


Kamen Rider Hiiro Time

by PortableEndzone



Series: Kamen Rider Hiiro (MHAxKR) [1]
Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Kamen Rider - All Media Types, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: F/M, Female Midoriya Izuku, Original Character Has a Quirk (My Hero Academia), Original Character Replaces Canon Character, Original Hero College, U.A. is a University (My Hero Academia)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:14:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 79,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24823651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PortableEndzone/pseuds/PortableEndzone
Summary: Walking the path to Kingship is arduous. Among other obstacles, having a Quirk you can't control is one thing. But when your life gets turned upside down by it, and a seemingly chance meeting? You don't just let the world push you down.You stand up. You put on your belt. And you tell the world what you are."HENSHIN!"
Relationships: Hadou Nejire/Original Character(s), Midoriya Izuku/Original Character(s), Mysterious Heroine X Alter/Original Character, Tokage Setsuna/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Kamen Rider Hiiro (MHAxKR) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1829476
Kudos: 7





	1. Graduating School and People

**Author's Note:**

> This story is also a former RP scenario turned story. Unlike my previous one, this will go for MUCH longer than two chapters in its first entry. Heck, depending on how plans go, I may just keep everything here. We'll see.

_ A little boy, no older than six, sat in the crosswalk of a major street. His parents were close by, but there wasn’t anything they could do to help him calm from the body-wracking sobs he gave. No one could. After all, no one was moving. Not the cars in motion, not the birds in flight, not the dust that hung in the air. _

_ Everything was still, except him. And it had been like that for an hour already. When would the world start again? _

* * *

Walking down the road to his train station, a young man with black hair almost looked like the average Japanese citizen. A set of khaki uniform pants and a white button-up shirt, you’d be forgiven for thinking he wasn’t anything special. At least until you saw his eyes. A brown so light that he liked to call them amber.

They held an ambition like few others had. But this young man, turning those amber eyes around the train station, was unfortunate in a way. His Quirk, the natural-borne ability he had from birth that awakened at the age of four, was… something he couldn’t quite use. Not since he was…

Thinking about the past wasn’t fun. But as he heard his train come in, his eyes landed on the frame of a student in a male uniform with bushy black-green hair. He’d seen this Aldera student around a few times, and the freckled face was just as memorable as the hair. Though he didn’t know why calling that one a male student just seemed a little off to him. Like there was something else about that person which--

Oh, crap, his train was here! No more time for inspection!

* * *

_ Sitting against a wall, he had his ears covered. But that didn’t stop it. He still heard his mom arguing with his father, the man’s brother on her side in this. After all, for all the hopes he’d put into his son, he was leaving? He’d had a bad scare with his Quirk was all, most kids did. _

_ But no, it wasn’t the scare. Or anything to do with his son. He still loved the boy and wished he could stay. But this was an important job opportunity he  _ needed _ to take for their livelihoods. It would keep them all in this nice house until their son decided to move out, and it would still be their house even after they all retired. _

_ His mother was hoping she was being told the whole truth. His father assured he was indeed telling the whole truth. So why couldn’t they know where he was working? Surely NDAs didn’t apply to family members! _

_ Well, yes. They did. Especially this one. Now he needed to go tell his son goodnight and goodbye before he left. _

* * *

Walking off the train and out his destination station, he couldn’t help a little smirk as he noticed someone standing on the side of the road. Habits died hard it seemed. “How long have you been waiting here, Itsuka?”

The orangette with her somehow naturally spiky hair up front and the rest of the long mess in a side pony looked up at the voice she’d been waiting to hear. Teal eyes lit up at the sight of him. “Takehiko! You’re early. I’ve only been here, um… a few minutes.”

Given she’d been part of the karate club for all their high-school time, going to practice before school and most days after had been part of her daily routine. This usually meant Itsuka was up much earlier than Takehiko Tamashiro ever claimed to be. “Sure. Come on, let’s walk together.”

She gave a happy hum at that suggestion. While she’d been waiting much longer than a few minutes on realizing she didn’t need to go to karate club today, walking with her friend was always nice. Looking up at the young man just a few inches taller than her own toned frame, Itsuka took in how he looked again. “...still planning on that gap year?”

He nodded at the question. “Yeah. I’m still one of the most average students in the school, so I’m gonna need to do some extra cramming to get into any university that’ll give my Kingship any legitimacy.” Takehiko turned his amber gaze on her. “Still heading for U.A.U.?”

Itsuka turned her eyes away. “Yeah. There’s a couple months till the entrance exams, so I’m going to be training a lot.” She jolted a little before looking up at her friend, his hand on her shoulder. “Huh?”

Takehiko grinned at the martial artist. “You’ll do great! I’m looking forward to seeing you win the Sports Festival.”

That brought a smile back to her face and eyes. If there was ever a way to cheer up Itsuka, it was talk of competition. Well, that was just the most publicly acceptable topic. But there’d be time to think on how else they could raise the other’s mood after school. After graduation, rather.

Upon entering school, they head to their separate classrooms. They had moved up from 1-D after three years, but where Itsuka was in 3-A, Takehiko had only managed 3-C. As he sat, putting his bag on his desk, the young man held up his hand. He focused… and only got static. As usual. For years now, he’d been trying to get anywhere close to where he’d been as a kid. But from six-and-some to eighteen, he hadn’t been able to manage a single damn blip in time. And not for lack of trying either. Was there some kind of outside influence keeping his Quirk like this? In that case, how?

...on another hand, he’d be sure to punish them when he managed to become King. Nothing would stop his ambitions. Not this stupid school, not his dumb Quirk, and not any policies that had turned the office of Emperor into a figurehead so many centuries ago. Remaking the office of Commander-in-Chief wasn’t his plan either so that angle was covered. Now he just needed the political capital to get things moving. In order to do that, he needed to study for getting into Todai. It may not have the majority numbers of politicians that it used to, with the different schools set up all over Japan and the world at large, but the first imperial college was still as prestigious now as it once was. The only place that had an arguable equal amount was U.A. University. And that was for an entirely different reason, considering Pro Heroes didn’t normally go into politics after retiring. The ones who did were very rare.

It would have made Takehiko stand out from the crowd a lot more than usual if he’d managed to become a Pro Hero and then turn to politics. But his Quirk… it just wasn’t up for that sort of thing. And while a flashy Quirk would fit a King, he’d make do. Japan would see he was the best man for the job.  _ The world _ would see he was meant to rule!

Rrrrright after he got out of Musutafu High. And hopefully without getting his arm shocked by that idiot with tasers for nails. If there was one good thing about that guy, it was the fact he knew sending a student into convulsions was not something you could cover up like a light jolt or bruise. Takehiko shuddered a little remembering how he’d found that out. Well, he heads out of the classroom to the auditorium with the rest of his classmates. He wasn’t going to be the one telling the rest of the graduates the closing address, but he was fine with that. There would be time to practice public speaking on crowds later. And while Takehiko did know a few people here and there, he only had one friend close enough to ask for any yearbook photos or something, but they lived close enough he could still pop over on the weekends after Itsuka was done with U.A.U.

He felt a little cliche, being stood under one of the trees as he bounced the little black cylinder holding his diploma on his shoulder. Still, it was the easiest place to wait for Itsuka. Takehiko was humming a song to himself, one he had thought up the bass line for but nothing much else. Wait, was it a bass line? He needed to talk to someone with musical training and not just an enjoyment for it.

Takehiko turns his eyes up, smiling at the orangette making her way out the gates finally. “Well hey there! Look who finally showed up.” He stood straight and gave her an amused look. “Been busy with the club and goodbyes?”

Itsuka nodded, teal meeting amber again. “Yeah. Got a couple confessions on my way out too, was pretty surprised by those.” She laughed, even as her friend felt a hole open in his chest. “But I didn’t even know one of the boys, and the other was definitely not my type. Not a fan of scales.”

_ “I guess my existential crisis is over.” _ He offers an arm to the young woman. “Shall we get going? I know my mom and uncle have a big party planned.”

Itsuka wrapped her arm around his, pulling it close to her toned body. “Mm. I was… actually thinking we could head to my place first? My parents are going to be out all day and night, so maybe we could… have one last visit?” She looked up at Takehiko. “I’m going to be real busy with training after all.”

One last visit. Was she ending things? Or… “Sure. I’ll go with you.”

The walk back to the train station so they could get back to their neighborhood was quiet. Takehiko stepped into the middle of the car, one arm grasping a handrail with the other was around Itsuka’s waist. Pressed chest to chest like this, she blushed prettily and leaned into him. It reminded him of how they’d started this because even though she was an accomplished martial artist with more than a few trophies and a good Quirk for combat, even as a middle school student she’d suffered a few instances of molesting. And using her skills or Quirk to knock away even someone like that hadn’t been a good idea. But Takehiko, her friend and almost always stood next to her, had been easy to alert to what was happening. He’d driven their hands off of her. One day, he’d just wrapped an arm around Itsuka and pulled her close for the whole train ride to school. She’d asked what he was doing, but even before his explanation, the girl had moved in as much as possible.

He wondered if this simple gesture was what had started their current relationship. Was it about to end tonight? That wasn’t a very pleasant thought. But if it was… he’d be sure Itsuka remembered him. Takehiko was not someone who’d leave her memory easily.

As they reach the station and get off the train car, Takehiko sees the student with green hair again. Quite determined, that face said. He wondered what the plan was… but he also had something much more personal to do than try and follow that one to the apartment complex near his house.

Point of fact, Itsuka went by his house to school every day. Why she hadn't made the turn to grab him today, he didn't know, but he'd made it in time anyway. For now, the two newly graduated students entered her empty house after another few minutes walk in silence.

Takehiko dropped his backpack with his shoes and wasted no time. After Itsuka had put her own shoes down, he pulled her close to kiss the martial artist. She didn't make a noise but did appreciate the simple start. When he grasped her chest through the uniform shirt they'd never need to wear again, he heard her moan. Knowing how she liked it, the young man began to massage Itsuka’s breast roughly.

It didn’t take long before the pair had made it up to the martial artist’s room. He picked her up, setting Itsuka on her desk and making a few of the trophies set on a shelf behind her rattle. She almost tore her shirt off, she lifted it so fast. Takehiko couldn’t help a smirk, rubbing a hand along her bra. The young woman was wearing her nicest set of lingerie, probably with his show in mind. He leans down, nipping at her chest and fiddling with the cups. “Takehiko, please…” He opens his eyes, amber looking up at slightly cloudy teal. “Stop teasing me!”

The bra cups came down, and his teeth found her hard nipple quickly. Itsuka let out a much more guttural moan, enjoying the attention he was giving her even as his other hand ventured under her skirt. He had to bunch it up quite a bit first, but the young woman gasped and jolted as Takehiko started to rub at her covered mons. Though the teasing down there didn’t last long, as he moved her panties aside to begin slipping his finger into Itsuka’s pussy. And he wasn’t surprised to feel she was more than wet enough for him to enter easily. “My my, how long has this been drenched? I wonder if it was during the train ride here, or maybe earlier?”

Itsuka whimpered a little, biting her lip. She moaned out as Takehiko straightened up and bit her neck. While her favorite thing hadn’t happened yet, she still quite enjoyed the lead up. And the marks he’d leave on her were also quite fun to accrue. “Tell me, Itsuka.” Huh? When did he unzip his pants to “How much do you want this?”

Rubbing against her was cheating! The martial artist tried to move onto him but this was the one time Takehiko was stronger than her. “I want… I  _ need _ you inside me. Please, Takehiko!”

He hummed at that. “You need me inside you, what?”

The young man pulled back from her ear to look at Itsuka’s face. And was it quite an enjoyable sight. “I need you to fuck me… my King!”

She jolted, feeling him push inside her brutally. Hard and fast was the name of this first round. Her arms kept hold of her desk, barely staying upright as Itsuka felt him start to do as she’d begged. Takehiko fucking her, and bareback at that, it felt so gooooood… Did he want to leave something behind? The thought of that got her to flutter around him, the orangette moaning out louder as her head lolled back and her tits bounced to his thrusts. This wasn’t a new sight to the young man pounding the martial artist into her desk, but it was one he would make sure he would remember well if this was going to be the last time they got together. As he went at her, Takehiko reached down from her hip to open Itsuka’s skirt’s buttons. Opening it up, he glanced down. Yeah, this was a very nice lingerie set.

Lifting up the martial artist, it was a very slow walk filled with fucking from her desk to her bed. Takehiko grunted as he laid her down, feeling Itsuka’s legs wrap around his waist. Locking behind his ass, the young man began to work his own shirt off even as he kept thrusting deep inside her. The orangette didn’t let him go that far out, but she enjoyed this all the same. After all, it was Takehiko doing this to her…

“Ugh, Itsuka, fuuuuck!” He tweaked her nipple, feeling the young woman cum on his crotch. It didn’t take long for Takehiko to return the favor in kind. This was only the second time his seed spilled inside her, and the first time he’d done it deliberately. And while this would be his last night to do it, there’d be much more than one load flooding Itsuka tonight. For instance, since her legs had loosened up a little after her own orgasm, he reached back to pull them up and to his shoulders. Leaning down over her, he silenced the wildly moaning woman with a kiss as he began to screw her in a mating press. The sounds that came from that kiss were only slightly pornographic, though Takehiko was definitely using techniques he’d copied from AVs. And Itsuka had been quite happy to experience it in the past. “You have… any re--...requests, for this?”

It took a little before Itsuka was able to answer. After all, he hadn’t stopped fucking her for a second to speak. But after the martial artist managed to get out a garbled “behind!”, Takehiko spent a few more seconds in the mating press before straightening up. He pulls out of her, eliciting a nice gasp from her and a groan of his own, just long enough to turn the young woman onto her front, leaking his seed onto her sheets for a second. He takes in the sight, panting hard before moving to slam inside of her again. Itsuka lets out a strangled cry, fisting her sheets even as a wide smile split her face. The sound of his groin smacking into her ass rang in the room, cheeks jiggling for his viewing pleasure before Takehiko grabbed her hair to give it a tug. “Aaaahhh! Sooo goooood!”

The martial artist was very much enjoying the frequent proddings he gave her so deep inside. Itsuka used her hands to push back, squealing as she felt him touch even more now. And the fact she could feel his sperm sloshing about inside as well, tonight was going to be a very good sleep…

Whenever Takehiko let her, that is. One of the few things he somehow managed to beat Itsuka in was stamina. Neither of them quite knew where he had the energy to keep fucking so hard and long or to stay as hard as he did, considering most men would probably be chafing by now. But for the years they’d been fucking, it was not something they’d cared much about. It let them enjoy each others’ company longer and in one of the most pleasurable of ways at that.

By the time Takehiko was finished, he was pulling his cock from the overflowing cunt just above a filled asshole, Itsuka’s face slightly sticky from the cum she hadn’t been able to swallow and chest covered in seed that she would have eaten if he’d given her time to breathe. Even as she laid there, eyes blank from pleasure overdose, he looked at her and still felt quite ready to go. “...so. I guess this is where I say goodbye, Itsuka?”

She blinked, eyes coming back to life slowly. “Ye-yeah. I’l--” Itsuka needed to gulp down some seed that had stuck in her mouth for a little. “I’ll be training a lot for the entrance exams. I can’t afford to, to slack off. So…”

Takehiko nodded at that. “Alright. I understand.” He glances at her torn lingerie, smirking a little. His souvenir to her, a ruined set of underwear. Not the first, but apparently the last. Still, he looked to Itsuka, his breath calming down even as she panted like she’d been running marathons. “I’ll see you in the papers and on TV, I guess.”

With one last pat to her leg, Takehiko turned to get dressed and head out. The sun had been setting for a while now, it seemed, though there was still plenty of light on the neighborhood. Nothing too odd, and he didn’t need to text his mom about being late. Though she… had texted him. Probably best he told her that he was just visiting with Itsuka again. For the last time. Well, that part he’d do in person. No need to have that kind of conversation over the phone.

As Takehiko walked the streets of Musutafu, he hummed to himself. While his relationship with Itsuka had ended in an odd way, he still had much to celebrate. Especially since, well, he had just graduated after all. And well, he can find some new friends during this time right?

While waiting at a crosswalk, Takehiko heard that annoying sound of his Quirk acting up. “Damn it,” he cursed. “Not again. This hasn’t happened in so long.” He tried to do all those calming exercises that he was taught but nothing seemed to work. So the young man braced himself for a few minutes of what would be just a frozen world.

However, when he blinked when the static gradient of his Quirk engulfed the world, upon opening his eyes, he was not where he was originally. Or he was...but not quite. He was still on the same street corner but everything was decrepit or destroyed. Cars were turned over with weeds growing all over it, store signs were falling off, and almost every window was destroyed.

“What the…” he let the sentence hang as he began to run through the street. No one was there. It was like everyone had vanished. But Takehiko didn’t much care for everyone. After all, he wasn’t King yet. He could afford to be a little selfish. And whatever had happened, Itsuka would probably be fine on her own. But there were two people he needed to… to…

Takehiko slowly came to a stop as he saw that his neighborhood wasn’t there. Not just ruined like the rest of this place, but it was like where there was a solid boundary of building to… wasteland. And there wasn’t a single thing here to say there might have once been a neighborhood. But his feet still took him down the familiar length of the street. Even if it was covered in sand and dirt. What had happened? Why was everything so destroyed? What had… WHO had done this?!

The sound of a gun, no,  _ multiple guns _ , cocking sounded out. Takehiko froze at that. “Identify yourself, traveler!” He turned his head slowly. There were a few people with of all things  _ assault rifles  _ **_IN JAPAN_ ** and they did not look like part of the JSDF! The tattered cloaks hanging about their shoulders and the overall poor condition of their clothes made him think these people were doing pretty badly. But despite how dirty they were, Takehiko managed to take in one thing. “I said identify yourself!”

His amber eyes looked between the men and women arrayed before him. They’d come out from behind one of the mounds of dirt. And despite looking dirty, holding illegal weapons that could’ve used a cleaning, and wearing clothes that needed some patching, they all looked strong. Even without any visible Quirks, barring the Minota--no, the holstein in the back, the bearing these people had weren’t of just raiders or people that happened upon a stash of guns. They were trained and knew how to use these. “I’m Tak--”

Mechanical voices rang out from behind them.  **< FOR THE OVERLORD>** was repeated a few times as the people turned around. “Dammit, those Kasshine are here?! What brought them this way?”

Takehiko didn’t spend any more time there. He didn’t want to be attacked by anyone who worked for an Overlord. It didn’t matter what kind of ruler they were, that was the sort of authority figure he did not want to be and would fight with all he had. When he had something to fight it  _ with _ at least. But for now, he didn’t have anything. So while the dirty people began to take defensive positions and one of the women in the group called out to him to stop, Takehiko was running away. This wasn’t his fight. Hell, these weren’t his people. “Mom, uncle, where are you?”

Unfortunately for his search, it was stopped before it could go too far. Takehiko skid to a halt as a purple portal opened up in front of him. Out of it came these… weird looking gold and black people in armor.  **< FOR THE OVERLORD!>** Oh no, these were probably those Kasshine they were talking about. As the people he’d left took note of this and started to work on a new formation, the robots… “The hell? What’re you--”

He found himself quite surprised when the robots moved to surround him but Takehiko saw he wasn’t going to be attacked. After all, enemies didn’t leave their back to you as they blocked bullets.  **< Overlord, we have come to save you! Please follow this unit.>** a robot told him, turning around as the others worked to keep the bullets aimed at them while others left to attack the other people.  **< Your castle is this way.>**

“...what do you mean, Overlord? I’m not a…!” Takehiko backed up, bumping into a robot. Shaking his head, he ran passed the Kasshine telling him to follow. While the golden armored unit was glad for the Overlord’s energy and the people began to loudly talk about how he couldn’t be the Overlord, Takehiko’s mind whirled. Turning towards one particular mound, he planned to just lay low there for now. “I’m no Overlord. Whoever you’re talking about isn’t me. And what,” the young man comes to a stop next to his planned mound, looking around and sweating a little. “What even happened to this place?!”

The Kasshine robot that had been following Takehiko whirred a little as it processed the question.  **< During the Riot of 2276, a woman designated Kanso Shigaraki used a Desertification Quirk on this area. All objects and people in this town became sand.>**

...what? That didn’t sound right. For one thing, it was twenty years too far in the future. For another, what made this Kanso decide to do that?! “What’s… the current date?”

More whirring and beeping as the robot checked the calendar.  **< Current date is April Thirteenth, 2313.>** THIS TINCAN NEEDED SOME REPROGRAMMING!  **< Please follow this unit to your castle, Overlord. You shall be protected.>**

Takehiko leaned onto the mound behind him… hopefully it wasn’t a person… “Wh-why are you calling me Overlord? I’m not…”

The Kasshine tilted its head curiously.  **< Subject is designated Overlord Ohma Zi-O, age 17. True Overlord has also designated Subject Young Overlord as retrieval objective. Please follow this unit to y-->**

Getting up from the mound, Takehiko shook his head. “No way, no way, no way! I’m not go-buh!”

His rejection was not received well.  **< Subject Young Overlord has failed to cooperate. Retrieving by force.>**

Looking up from where he’d been knocked to the ground after being hit by the bulky portion of the robot’s trident, Takehiko’s amber eyes went wide as it reached down to grab him. That was until they both paused, hearing something coming. The young man looked around as he wondered what could be so fast while the Kasshine took up a combat stance, facing away from the target. It would protect him from the defective model.

And then the robot with its strong armor and powerful weapon was kicked away by a blue blur. Takehiko fell from his knee to his backside at the gust of wind that came with it. The blur returned to standing in front of him a few seconds later. Looking down from inside a helmet with a blue face mask with red eyes that reminded him of a cricket, the calm voice that came from this blue and silver and black Kamen Rider surprised him a little. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

He gulped at that. “I fi-figured. So, where do I go?” Takehiko’s amber eyes followed the hand that went behind the Rider’s back. When it brought out a weird looking pink stick that made him think of a detonator, he tensed up.

“Didn’t think I’d actually need to use this. Guess he was telling the truth.” With that, he pushes the button. Nothing exploded… and then a silvery wall rose up from nowhere. “And it does work. That’s good for you.”

Those words didn’t quite register with Takehiko before he was tossed through the dimensional portal head first. With a short scream, he landed on his chest on the ground. As he groaned and started to get up, the shimmering wall disappeared like it had never been there. Stood on shaky feet now, the former high school student looked around. This was… back home? The sound of another person’s footsteps reached his ears as Takehiko slowly got his sense of balance back. “Huh. Now isn’t this a surprise.” ...hang on, wasn’t that voice…? “I didn’t think someone would have the same Quirk as me so soon.”

Takehiko slowly turned to look. And sure enough, there was the man who wore magenta and black armor into battle. “Holy… You’re Tsukasa Kadoya! What’re yo--same Qui--no no no, you’ve got it wrong.” He waves his hands frantically. “My Quirk is nothing special, especially not like yours! I was… you’re probably not even going to believe me.”

Tsukasa raised an eyebrow at the young man. That was quite the emotional switching going on there. “Go ahead. Try me.” The two began walking out of the street. Takehiko’s story was short, but for all the ways it was utterly improbable… one thing did stick out. “Someone managed to make a machine that emulated my Quirk? Huh.”

Amber eyes watched Tsukasa curiously. Why wasn’t he disbelieving, or surprised, or… ANYthing really?! It took Takehiko a second to realize he’d walked passed his house without meaning to, though it was just a few paces back to the gate. “Uh, well, this is my place, Kadoya-san.” He walked backward and pointed. “So I guess…”

“You’re inviting me in? How kind of you.” wait what “It’ll be much easier to explain what’s going to happen to your parents what’s about to happen tonight.” WHAT “Come on, open the gate.”

Takehiko was very confused about what was happening as he led Tsukasa towards his home. Why was Kamen Rider Decade inviting himself into a random kid’s house? “I’m home! And I brought a guest.” He wondered what his mother thought on hearing the man’s voice announce his intrusion. Which felt much more fitting here than it did whenever he’d brought Itsuka over. “Hey mom, Uncle Juni. This is uh, Tsukasa Kadoya. I ran into him on the way home and…”

The thin clockmaker was very surprised to see the current leader of the Rider Base out here in their home. Junichiro could barely get a word out while the boy’s mother Kazehime looked at their guest with wide eyes. After all, the slightly plump woman was very surprised to see someone who occasionally came on her favorite programs and was a co-worker of one of her favorite authors. “Oh my. Take-kun, what’d you do to bring Kadoya-san here?”

Her son made very confused noises for a couple seconds before saying Tsukasa would be telling that himself. The man in a suit with a magenta vest gave him an amused smirk before looking to the older Tamashiro. “Ma’am, I would like your permission to recommend Takehiko here to a Hero College.”


	2. Getting Ready

“Ma’am, I would like your permission to recommend Takehiko here to a Hero College.”

Takehiko froze up on hearing that. He must not be hearing right. There was no way Kamen Rider Decade was saying that this guy with a malfunctioning Quirk could be… “Though he will need a lot of work. I can see he has some good foundations, but aside from stamina, I can’t see much good about him physically.” Tsukasa pat Takehiko’s chest with the back of his hand. “But right here. He told me a story, and I can tell. This is where he’s got the best foundation for being a Pro Hero.”

Kazehime gave a squeal of delight, hearing from this famous man that  _ her son _ could be a hero! Junichiro just grinned. “Takehiko-kun, this is quite the opportunity! What school were you thinking of, Kadoya-san?”

Tsukasa nodded to the very sensible question. But he took a moment to answer, looking at the place where his hand impacted curiously. “I thought about U.A.U., but they’re already done with taking in recommendations for the year. That exam is happening next month, actually.” He looked at Takehiko’s face. “But there is a different college that you’ll be able to attend without much fuss. They only take recommendations too, but you will need to take a test for it still.”

The young man nodded. “That’s fine, Kadoya-san. I’ll ju--”

“Tsukasa.”

“Er, Tsukasa-san. I’ll just do my best like I’d already planned for Todai.”

The man with normal brown eyes smirked at that. “Todai? High goal there. Good on you for that. We can use it as a backup if you somehow fail to enter the Chaldea Institute for Heroics.”

Takehiko’s eyes widened at that. “Chaldea? The school that takes in so many international students I-Island is considering making a floating facility for them?” It was a school based in Japan, but the amount of money that came into it from overseas… The one here in Japan was an offshoot, after all. But that didn’t stop people from Europe coming to the island nation for it if they couldn’t get into U.A.U. first… Amber eyes moved to a side as he muttered for a second before shaking his head. “That Chaldea?”

Tsukasa nodded to him. “Yes, that Chaldea. The one that mainly takes in failed U.A. applicants.”

Aaaaaahhhhhhh fuck. “Ehheheheh…”

“If you’re right, you’re right. But still, probably best not to say it to their faces, y’know?” Tsukasa smirked before turning to bow to Kazehime and Junichiro. “Well, I took up too much of your time as it is. I’ll be back in a couple days with some papers for you to sign, Tamashiro-san. After that, I’ll get your son trained up for the exams.”

Kazehime bowed back, a smile wide on her face. “Thank you for this chance, Kadoya-san! Oh, my boy… Your father would be so proud.”

Takehiko swallowed a sudden lump at that. Proud, huh? Oh the apparent monster he would become? Robots that called him Overlord, a wasteland, a resistance force… Stuff to really be proud about. But as his mother pat his cheek and led him to the kitchen where his graduation cake was sitting, the young man didn’t really have it in him to tell her the truth. Decade hadn’t, so what would it hurt to keep that to himself for a little longer? He could just tell her… later.

\-------

_ Kazehime was holding her hands over her mouth, listening to the man in the dark suit. “He can’t be… I knew it was dangerous work, but he always told me--!” _

_ “A necessary lie, ma’am. But he died while working for the JSDF in service to his country and in defense of his family. As such, his family will be treated with the utmost respect and we’ll make sure you won’t have to look for a job so long as you don’t want to, which is also as per his wishes in his will.” _

_ Takehiko looked at the envelope the man was pulling a few pieces of paper out of. This was supposed to be about his daddy, but the boy had just learned he was… _

_ “The Last Will and Testament of Sergeant Takeshi Tamashiro reads as follows…” _

\-------

Takehiko was out on the town, taking a break from Tsukasa’s training regime. It was certainly not what he’d expected. But the man had said he’d shape him up for Chaldea. If there was one thing that was true after a couple weeks going at it, Takehiko was much more able to use his body well. Not to mention his Quirk, which was actually behaving for the first time in years. He heard someone running behind him, but given the young man was on the far side of the sidewalk, he doubted they’d bump into him too badly.

And then Takehiko stumbled forward a little, eyes wide as he barely managed to stay standing. He looks down, amber eyes landing on the slim arms wrapped in a dark sweater. “Uh. Hello?” A voice is muffled into his back. “You’re gonna have to pull back a little bit. Can’t hear ya.”

The face in his shirt is lifted a little. “Wanna have a good time, big guy?”

He frowns at that. The future King turns his head, seeing just fluffy green hair and feeling the girl push up against him. And she was definitely a looker, if he could actually look at her… “Sure. But I think you and I have a different definition on that right now.” She stiffened at that. “I’m not going to take advantage of a girl who’s scared out of her mind.”

She looked up at him, and he was struck by just how green her eyes were. It wasn’t the same shade as Itsuka, too dark. It was more like he was looking at the darker parts of the ocean instead of anything on land. “I’m not scared of you.”

He hums at that. “No. But you are scared of something else. Come on, let’s go get into the streetlights.” Takehiko tilts his head back, seeing as the stretch of road they were on had no lampposts or any traffic on it. But not far away was his destination, the city where he was going to grab some new clothes and maybe a snack. “Whatever you’re scared of should let you be once we’re there.”

That got her to bite her lip, giving him a glimpse of her jagged teeth. “...alright. But I’m not letting go of you.” Her arms pulled away from his chest, wrapping around Takehiko’s own arm now. “If you’re going to protect me, I’m not moving far away from you at all.”

Damn, her voice was nice on the ears. “That’s fine. Come on, maybe having a lady’s eyes on my clothing choices will help me make better decisions.” That got a short laugh out of her. And while he wanted to ask the name of this girl with a nice body and the waviest green hair he’d ever seen, he lets it stay unknown for now. And going by how the long-sleeved dress hung on her, the future King felt like she actually would be a good help. It accented her hair and brought out the girl’s eyes so she had some experience with wardrobe making he thought.  _ ‘I could just be projecting. Not unusual…’ _ Takehiko brought his gaze back to the path as they went.

A car drove by not long after they had started moving. She’d clung closer, moving her head to hide in front of his chest. As the car came parallel, Takehiko shifted to block sight of his companion with his arm and torso. The tidbit about the town he told her was almost drowned out, but she did hear him at least a little given she’d asked for a little more information. It was a good topic given it seemed she’d not come out to this part of Musutafu very often while he was a native to the area. He found it quite fun to introduce her to the local arcade especially, and he got to see her Quirk in action. Splitting her hand without any dripping of anything was very interesting. “Do your clothes split with you or are they in danger of tearing depending on what part of you goes apart?”

The young woman gave a giggle. He wasn’t quite sure what she’d thought of but it was something that halted conversation for about a minute. “Heheheh! Well, that depends on what I’m wearing. Like, around my waist? Everything stays together just fine.” She looked around and leaned into his ear to whisper. “But if I try to split the wrong part of my chest? I could tear my dress while my bra is just fine.”

Takehiko couldn’t help a grin at that thought. So he was a horny man after not getting any for weeks, sue him! “I see. Well, that sounds like quite the intense Quirk to work with. Putting it to work anywhere?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to U.A.U. as a recommended student. So you’ll probably see me in the papers.” The young woman seemed quite proud of that, puffing out her chest a little before opening a green eye to look at Takehiko. “How about you?”

He shook his head. “Not U.A.U. But I will be going to a heroics college. You ever hear about Chaldea?”

The green girl whistled at that. “Chaldea? Man, I’ve never heard someone that chose that as their first place to go!” She tilts her head. “Why there?”

Takehiko scratched his cheek. “Well, I met Kamen Rider Decade not too long ago. He and I talked and…” He shrugged, quite surprised that the man had honestly kept him on as an apprentice so far. Two weeks had been pretty filled with exercise and a bit of extra cramming of knowledge. At least he hadn’t been tutored by Sento Kiryu. The man had been watching them train and his lessons outside physical work. And Takehiko was not looking forward to when he started learning under that scientist. “But I’m more able to use my body and Quirk now than I have in years.”

That got her a little interested. “Really? What is your Quirk?”

The future King looked around. They were almost to the store where he was going to get some new clothes. “I’ll show you inside. It’ll be easier for me to demonstrate there.” Her curious gaze followed Takehiko before the young woman caught up with him. They spend a few minutes looking at the racks, picking up clothes and putting them back. After a bit, Takehiko goes to get changed while his new friend stood outside the changing booth he chose. So late at night, they were the only two in the back. She gave yays or nays to mixes of the clothes chosen before finally asking him to demonstrate his Quirk before the store closed. The young man chuckled before nodding. Standing in his last outfit of new clothes, his amber eyes closed. When they opened, her green eyes were wide. “It isn’t clothes switching. Wanna take a guess before I tell you?”

Her next question threw him for a second. “Is that because clothes is too specific, or is it not teleporting at all?” The woman rubbed her chin, looking at Takehiko. Looking him up and down, she hummed. “Can you demonstrate it ag---ain? HUH?!”

Takehiko grinned as he leaned on the wall outside the changing booth. His test subject was sat on the bench inside it. “Have a guess yet?”

The gears were almost visible. As she came to a conclusion, she snapped her fingers and grinned toothily at him. “You can stop time!”

“Got it in one.” Or that was what he’d tell most people, anyway. Takehiko stood from the wall before moving to pick up the clothes that he’d be buying tonight. The others he left for the employees to take. But before he got too far, they were snatched from his hands. “Wha--hey!”

She stuck her tongue out at him before turning to leave the changing area first. “You can buy me dinner some other time.” The sounds of their shoes paused a moment, her heels clicking on the floor as his sneakers stopped. The young man moved forward to catch up this time. “My name’s Setsuna Tokage.”

He chuckled a little. “Takehiko Tamashiro.” As they went through the motions of getting his clothes bought, the taller young man kept his arms crossed before picking up the bag of clothes. “Got anywhere you want to go for that dinner?”

Finished exchanging numbers and sending a test text, Setsuna hands his phone back. “I do. I’ll tell you when I’m free later on.” She brought out her own phone to call up a cab. “...you don’t need to wait here with me.” His answering nod and ‘I know.’ made the greenette hum a little. “Alright.”

After a few minutes of quietly waiting, he waved to her as the young woman got in her cab. Takehiko watched as it disappeared before doing a short fist pump. He had a date! Man, this was going to be great! Oh, shit, he needed to ask his mom how to prepare for normal dates. After all, his dates with Its--...After all, he’d never gone on one before.

On his return to the training facility Tsukasa had chosen for where he’d run Takehiko through the ringer, the young man looked at his teacher curiously. Once again, Sento was standing off to the side. “So, you normally send me a list of things to do before I arrive. Why not today?”

The brown-eyed man watched his apprentice for a moment. “You know that I’m a Kamen Rider. (“Of course.”) And not many Kamen Riders take on students that aren’t themselves Kamen Riders. So, we’re going to fix that today.” Takehiko opened his mouth to ask how but Tsukasa took a step forward and… thrust his hand into the amber-eyed young man’s chest.

But no blood dripped, given the older man was using his Quirk to reach into Takehiko without killing him. Still, it threw him quite heavily. As Tsukasa drew his hand out, it felt like something else was following what he was holding. And indeed, once he’d managed to get his closed hand out, the silvery wall didn’t close immediately. After all, many items were flying out of the young man. One of them impacted Tsukasa’s empty hand, drawing his gaze from the massive outpour. It was magenta with a few black accents, and… his own helmet on it? Huh. For now, he pocketed the item… the watch. In his other hand, the one that had entered Takehiko, the Destroyer of Worlds looked to see what he’d pulled out. It was a black item, shaped mostly like what now sat in his pocket save for the fact it didn’t have rails extending from it. And while it had a design that looked like it could form a helmet, at the moment it showed instead an interesting font for the word ‘Kamen’ in katakana while under it was this year, 2254, at the top and bottom. “Well now. This is an interesting one. Sento?”

Looking over, Tsukasa sees that the physicist had his own little watch in hand. It was blue and red, fittingly enough. He seemed to be muttering to himself as he looked it over. Turning his gaze back to Takehiko, the young man was bent over, clutching at his knees and panting. “What the… hell did you… take out of me?!”

Decade holds out the little black watch to his student. “Your mask.”

Amber eyes look at brown before moving down. He takes the watch, and without thinking turns the ‘dial’ to complete the mask. His finger comes up, pressing the button on top…

**“ZI-O!”**

Well. That was certainly quite the call and… name… Takehiko swallowed as he realized the implications of this. The Kasshine had said “Overlord Ohma Zi-O” so this meant HE was Ohma Zi-O. But that made no sense! He planned to be King, but what kind of guy was it that went from that to an Overlord of a ruined Japan? Maybe he should’ve grilled the robot for more info.

“Now we just need to get you a belt.” Tsukasa’s voice brought Takehiko out of his own head. “Sento, you have… SENTO!” The current leader of the Rider Base moves to get the smartest man in Japan’s attention. “You can try to take apart the magic watch later. I need belt ideas for this kid.”

Looking up, the man who fought for Love and Peace blinked. “It’ll take a bit before I can actually put that into practice. The way this works is so intriguing, and I can feel…  _ me _ in it!”

Takehiko walked over, curious himself. He was definitely wondering what was up with that. The watch… “How did this Ridewatch come out of me?”

Tsukasa and Sento looked at the boy who made these wondrous items. The physicist got up from his chair to head for him. “Wha--hey!” Takehiko was not appreciative of the fact Sento just snatched the Zi-O Ridewatch from his hands. “Can’t you at least ask--”

“Ridewatch… That’s a good name for it.” Looking at the two new trinkets, Sento turned the dial on his and saw it went from a little odd to making sense. The full mask of his usual RabbitTank form. But there were still differences between the two Ridewatches. “I think I know how to make your belt, Tamashiro. I’ll call you about it… before the Chaldea exams come up.”

Takehiko opened his mouth to ask for some more specific timing, but the inventor turned around and headed out of the facility to go do his work. So many ideas to jot down, variations to try, and all from just two little Ridewatches. Oh, Sento was going to have fun with this experiment!

With another week of exercise done, Takehiko went out to see Setsuna again. The greenette was wanting to have a normal day together before calling him out to dinner. Which made sense, since he wouldn’t trust a stranger with someplace too fancy or anything if given the chance. It was going to be a fun outing, he hoped. They’d be going into a mall today.

After getting together in front of a fountain, the pair talked about what they could do today, pointing at a few stores they could browse for fun. Takehiko didn’t notice a very conspicuous hair color walking away from that plaza, so absorbed into his conversation with Setsuna about the pros and cons of a Pro Hero actively keeping their real identity private. Even though they were a sort of public servant, they had the option to stay anonymous. Most Japanese Pro Heroes didn’t do it because it just wasn’t in their heads that it was a bad idea to let people know who your family was. Takehiko was going to keep his name out of the papers until he was ready to move on from Pro Heroing because there was a major plus to staying unknown as a person in that line of work, but that was less doable in politics. “I can’t believe you want to go into  _ politics _ after being a Pro Hero! What kind of weird career path is that?!”

Takehiko let out a huff. First his mother, now Setsuna… at least he hadn’t had to deal with this wi-- “A career path that will let me go from politician to major figure to Prime Minister. And then from there, I’ll rename the office as King during my tenure. I’m real hopeful I don’t die a King, but I will certainly live as one for as long as the people vote for me.” He grinned at her, his own teeth naturally straight. She’d give him this one thing: Takehiko looked like he’d be able to grow naturally into the looks of a politician. “And I’ll be keeping the one perk I’ll give myself as King. The ability to take multiple wives.”

Now that just got her to laugh. “I still doubt you’d actually manage to outlast a woman in bed. Are you sure you’re not a virgin with delusions of grandeur?” Setsuna looked up at him in amusement before Takehiko pulled a kabedon maneuver on her. Blushing slightly at the close proximity of the man, her eyes went wide as he leaned down. “Uh wai--Takehiko-san, we-we’re in publi-lic, you can’t…!”

His head moved next to hers. “I can show you. Just let me know the time and place, Setsuna.” Oh dear thousands of Kami, Takehiko’s breath on her ear made the body splitter shiver. And that was before he gave her earlobe a nip. “Now come on. We have a mall to explore.”

Setsuna stumbled after Takehiko for a couple seconds. Regaining her composure took a little bit before shaking her head some. She slipped an arm around his and pressed herself close in. Yeah… probably able to back up his words. Still, until he could back it up… Did she want him to? That kind of thing was very personal after all. And they weren’t really together, so, was it a good idea to ask to go somewhere else?

As the greenette tried to think on that and have a good time in the present, which Takehiko managed much more easily, they were both unable to recognize they were being followed. But the blue-eyed person on their tails was very curious indeed. Why would Takkun be doing something like that? Hmmmm~

Setsuna whistled to herself as she walked down a street. Most people thought her teeth would get in the way of that, given they seemed so randomly jagged. But she could talk and breathe normally, so why not whistle too? Not that it hadn’t taken her a while to figure it out, but that was just normal for a kid learning to whistle for the first time…

She waved on spying her date for the night. He was standing alone outside their destination, which made her speeding up not quite necessary but the young woman had come from a block five minutes away to look even better than she normally did. And going by Takehiko’s widened eyes that she saw even from here, Setsuna decided she managed her goal.

He certainly cleaned up well, wearing blue jeans with a white button-down shirt under a black vest. The weather wasn’t warm just yet, so her windbreaker detracted a little from the overall look she was going with. But there’d be time for Setsuna to give Takehiko’s mind a more thorough thrashing than with just her great legs. As they headed in to the restaurant, the greenette looked at his face. He seemed a little overwhelmed with the scale of the place, which wasn’t that big a surprise. For all he’d wanted to buy on his own at the store the other day, Setsuna thought there were a few other things he should have gotten. But this place, for all it looked good, was still on the lower end of things. At least, as far as Setsuna knew from her time trying to befriend the other people in her private high school before… well. The usual outcome.

Takehiko talked to the young woman about a few things before they moved up in line to the maitre d’. “Hi! We’re here for the Tokage reservation at six.” As the man went over the list on his little podium, Setsuna glanced at her date. Oh, he was wearing a bright magenta tie. Somehow, it just brought the whole thing together. As she unzipped her windbreaker at last, the lizard-loving lass leaned into his side a little. That got him to blink and move his gaze down to hers. “Hey.”

“Hello.”

“Like the view?” She grinned up at him. While the front didn’t give much in the way of a show, the dress Setsuna chose was very good at top-down cleavage. And she’d seen Takehiko’s amber eyes stray from her dark green orbs for a second. “It isn’t often I wear this one.”

The future King gave a slight grin at her. Setsuna wasn’t as curved as Itsuka, but her appeal was certainly tangible. And that was before you got to know her. “Indeed. If it weren’t for this forest here,” Takehiko brought a hand up to run it through her hair, “I might be lost in your eyes.”

Even as her grin was toned down to a smile, cheeks turned a little pink. “Showoff.” Setsuna chuckled before the pair followed the waitress who’d take them to their table. Slipping her windbreaker off completely, the green-eyed woman posed for a second, showing off her nearly black dress to her date. It didn’t show off much skin beyond the bottom half of her thighs and on to her heels, plus the cutout that thanks to how it was situated was probably the definition of cleavage window. But her body was still on display for mostly the young man pulling out her chair. “Looking forward to tonight?”

Takehiko grinned. “Indeed I am. This will be an enjoyable night.”


	3. Getting Equipped

On entering his house, Takehiko felt like something was off. His house was filled with the normal sounds of a day after training, with his mom in the living room taking notes on the Tendou Cooking Show and Uncle Juni still out at Kujigojidou. So why was there another pair of shoes in the entrance? The young man walked toward the living room. “I’m back, mom. Who’s shoes are those?”

Kazehime looked up from her notes to smile at Takehiko, beckoning him closer. After enjoying her boy’s strong hug, the woman gave a teasing grin. “You have a surprise up in your room. Go on and see.”

He was very confused now. She hadn’t had a look like that even when Itsuka had surprised him by coming here early. So what kind of surprise was this going to be? Takehiko walked upstairs while going over what it could be. Halfway through the climb, he started rolling his shoulder. Man, Tsukasa had put him through quite the ringer today. And Setsuna wasn’t free this week, though she was real down about it. He could tell that even over their texts, and that one vidcall they had was definitely proof Setsuna wanted out of whatever thing her parents had her going to.

Getting close to his bedroom, Takehiko furrowed his brow. He knew that sound. It was a girl pleasuring herself. With the sound not carrying too far out of his bedroom, the voice sounded familiar but it wasn’t quite to the level of going all out. Or maybe whoever this was had a different volume… Guh. It wouldn’t do to just keep trying to guess. And his door was right there. So without fanfare or knocking, he entered his room to see this surprise his mother said was waiting.

Amber eyes nearly bulged out as Takehiko saw what, rather who, was waiting for him up here. On his bed was a woman with the biggest ass he’d ever seen, muffling herself into his pillow as she played with her pussy and clit. The cascade of periwinkle blue hair brought memories out that he hadn’t looked at for a while. In fact, he glanced at his wall where a picture of the pair but younger sat hanging. They were standing in front of a lake, fresh from the water going by how they were dripping in the picture. And it seemed she’d grown much more than in height since he’d last seen her before his cousin went to high school.

Stepping over the dress and underwear on the floor, Takehiko takes his shirt off as he watched the bluenette groan to herself. “So you’re the surprise waiting for me. Still shaved too, that’s nice.” Evidently she hadn’t realized he was there, because the woman jolted on hearing his voice. And his finger roll along her labia. “Been a long time since we’ve talked, Ne-chan. It’s good to see you.”

She turned her head out of his pillow, grinning and blue eyes twinkling at him. “Takkun~ It is so good to see you again!” Even with his hand on her, Nejire Hado wiggled her giant ass at him. “Are you here to have fun with little ol’ meeeee~?” Her question had been extended thanks to the harsh spank given by him. Takehiko wasn’t sure what had changed since they had last been together but after five years apart physically, and four years without talking to each other… “That felt nice.”

The future King shook his head a little. “Still the same old Nejire, eh? Well, I’m still glad you’re here, Ne-chan.” With his pants open and pushed down, he lined up with her dripping cunt. “Let’s see if you still have my shape, huh?”

Before Nejire could tell him anything, the young man pushed into her. He found that she wasn’t as tight as when he’d first taken her at that hotel so long ago, but it was evident Nejire hadn’t had any sex in a while herself. And as she muffled her moaning into the pillow again, flesh smacking flesh sounding out in the closed bedroom, Takehiko found his rhythm returning quickly. One hand stayed on her hip as the other reached up and grabbed at her thick periwinkle locks, tugging the long hair and freeing her mouth from his pillow. The sweet sounds of his Ne-chan’s moans as he fucked her brought the future King to his first end. He gave her another spanking as he flooded the college student, and grinned as he felt her own orgasm around him. Hearing it too was quite nice. “I think you don’t. Let’s fix that, huh?”

Nejire used her Quirk to push herself up, surprising Takehiko and sending him onto his back with an ‘oof!’ Pulling herself off him with a light moan, the bluenette turned around to sit on his dick again with a grin. “I can’t stick around all night though, Takkun. So you’re gonna have to contest yourself with these two rounds!” She leaned down, bouncing herself on him. Her breasts bounced with her, blocking their view of each other’s faces on her downward movements. “Buuuut. I’m pretty sure I can take some time off from my work studies to come visit you, Mister Hero King~”

As amber and blue eyes met, she grinned wide. “And being a third year at U.A.U. is also going to make it hard to see you. But I’ll make time when I can!” Nejire closed her eyes, sitting up and enjoying him inside her again. “You’re still the best I’ve ever had… Some people with transformation Quirks either went too far or not enough, or just didn’t have any capabilities.” Takehiko leaned up to spank her again, getting a moan from the bluenette. “But you’re so good inside me~”

She giggled a little, feeling him thrust up into her from below. “It’s a shame I’m on the pill right now. I bet you’ve got waaaayyy more potent sperm now than you did back then.” Nejire squeaked as she felt her cousin nibble on her nipple, and ran a hand through his black hair. “Mmm… Come on, Takkun, give it to me!”

For all the time she didn’t have to spare here, they still spent almost half an hour together just fucking in various poses. Nejire took his seed on her chest and down her throat on top of just inside. And while shower sex for old times’ sake would be nice, her parents didn’t actually know she was here. So after cleaning herself up, and working over Takehiko to do the same for him, she let out a sad sigh. Parting again would not be fun, but at least they had tonight. And, as he tells her, many more to come. After all, just because they were both training to be Pro Heroes didn’t mean this had to be a one time thing.

Takehiko stretched out his legs. “How come you’re here before dinner anyway? We’ve got time and I know my mom would love to have you stay the night.” He starts getting his clothes on, opening the window to let out the smell. They had too many neighbors for the local gossips to not ask about who he had in here and if they were related to anyone for their own sons. Not something he wanted to put Nejire or his aunt through. “And I do mean the whole night.”

Nejire hummed, wiggling a little as she pulled her dress down. With her underwear back on and keeping his seed mostly trapped inside her, the woman pulled her periwinkle hair out of her dress. “I want to. It is  **very** tempting.” She gave him a sultry look with her blue eyes, but sighed. “But I have an early day at Ryukyu’s agency tomorrow. She’s going to be on my case for any limping you gave me anyway. And I don’t have a change of clothes or my uniform here or there anyway.” She hopped in place, clapping her hands together in excited thought. “Neh neh, Takkun! Did you watch me during the Sports Festival last year?!”

The Pro Heroine in training drooped at his shaken head. “I haven’t seen anything from U.A.U. in years. Been busy with my own school stuff, after all, and we never recorded those broadcasts.” Finished getting his clothes back on, Takehiko moved to lead Nejire out of his bedroom. “Come on, I can at least walk you to the station on your way home.”

His cousin quite appreciated that, sashaying ahead of him down the stairs. Takehiko grinned. He wished their parents hadn’t gotten into a sibling tiff or who knows if he’d be doing this before… The young man shook his head and his left arm out. What ifs weren’t fun. Or useful. As the future King stepped down into the living room, he blinked at the new addition to the coffee table. “Who’s the box for, mom?”

Kazehime muted the TV before grinning at him. “You! This nice boy named, oh, Ryuga I think his name was. Said he wanted to give this to you but he seemed embarrassed when I said you were reuniting with a girl upstairs. And it isn’t something I’m allowed to open.” She pat the silvery box with a familiar logo on it. “Go on, Take-kun! Open it up.”

He nodded, moving over to it. Nejire hovered behind him, making curious sounds as she watched. Reaching for the clasp, he snorted as it projected a holographic keypad. Of course Sento would lock it. This was probably the thing keeping his mom out of most. Hitting the question mark where the pound button was on other keypads, Takehiko felt his eyebrow twitch. “Of course, you nerd…”

The hint was an equation. Before he could hold his hand up to put in the first digit, Nejire reached under his arm to do it herself. And given Takehiko would have put in 5 instead of 6 in the middle, he nodded thanks to her as the box unlocked. Opening it up, he blinked. “Oh. Now here’s an interesting thing to have.” Picking up the note on top of his first bits of equipment, he hummed. “Zikuu Driver, eh. And I can summon a Zikan Girade while in my armor, apparently.” And Sento even explained the joke in the name. How thoughtful of him… Oh, dang, that was a neat feature to have. How thoughtful of him! “Well, I don’t have anything to use this against so it’ll just be a really neat belt buckle for a while.”

Nejire poked his shoulder a few times. “Takkun, Takkun, show us the armor! Please please please!” Kazehime joined in, excited to see what her son would be wearing into battle. “Oh go on, Take-kun! It isn’t like they’ll get mad at you for showing family, is it?”

Takehiko laughed a bit. “Okay, okay! Let me put it on.” He picked up the belt, slapping it onto his waist as it announced itself to the other two as the  **“ZIKUU DRIVER!”** Picking up the Zi-O Ridewatch, his shoulders lost some tension he hadn’t realized was there. This felt like picking up something he hadn’t for years but… the sense of comfort that came from it being in hand was odd. Maybe it’d go away in time, maybe not. Who knew. Still, he turned the dial, taking a step back from the coffee table and the ladies to hold it out towards them. Hitting the button, the Ridewatch called out  **“ZI-O!”**

Takehiko had a classmate who was Quirkless in middle school. Most people thought there weren’t any Quirkless people outside the elderly three generations back. But what they didn’t realize was that inside that 20% of the population all over the world that had no supernatural abilities, there was not a 100% elderly sector. He didn’t know what the hard numbers were, or even the percentile approximate. But his Quirkless classmate had been the only one in the whole Musutafu Middle roster that was a normal human, as classified by the days of old. And that boy hadn’t had a good time there, even if his time at home was better. But he didn’t know what it was like. Takehiko had reported those kids bullying him.

His own Quirk had been derided as weak, useless, barely functioning in society, all through his school life. But he  _ had _ a Quirk. Even after the bullies he’d seen had been reported, that young man committed suicide in his own home before the second year was out. Another statistic on a board for some. Takehiko called Morokani Murata one of his motivators. Japan was rotten in places. Not just among the adults, but what those adults told their kids and showed them. Cycles started at home. And he aimed to change that as King.

So it was while spending a free day after training walking around town that Takehiko scowled at the three idiots harassing someone. Just because someone had no Quirk didn’t mean they had no use to society beyond what bullies like this ascribed them. This was already on his route, so Takehiko advanced on them. “Hey! What do you morons think you’re doing?”

The one with his eyes bulging out turned to look at Takehiko, blinking. ...how the hell did those things stay hydrated? “What the fuck do you care? This guy’s Quirkless, he ain’t goWAH!”

All four people were surprised when Takehiko soundlessly ‘teleported’ in front of them. Rather, in front of their victim while their own bodies were turned away… and pantsed. As some passersby laughed, the three decided to run away from this guy with an uber powerful Quirk. After pulling their pants back up, that is. Meanwhile, the familiar haired… OH! This was that person with the green hair and freckles. Huh. So close, Takehiko almost thought… “Tha-thank you! But that wasn’t necess-ss-ssary. I was going to be okay.”

As the ‘Quirkless’ person waved their arms, he nodded. “That’s a pretty good male sounding voice, I can tell you’ve been practicing.” As the waved arms froze, Takehiko hummed. “And this isn’t a bad idea. But you still need a bit of help. Do you have any male friends that can give you pointers?”

More stuttering answered his question, though it was barely intelligible. “Miss, I’m not going to out you to anyone. You’re doing alright, but a little more wouldn’t hurt your disguise.” The person with green eyes, more jeweled than Setsuna’s leaves, looked around before dragging Takehiko by his hand into an alley nearby. He stumbled a little at the sudden pull, not expecting it. “Sorry for the unsolicited advice but oof!”

Takehiko stretched out his back after being pushed into an alley wall. He looked at the person he thought was a girl in boy’s clothes. “How did you figure it out?” Oh. He was right. “Nobody else has for years, an-and I’ve managed to stay under everyone’s radar…”

Nodding, he motions at the arms currently crossed behind her back. “Well, those are a giveaway. Most guys don’t cross their arms straight like that. I at least bend my arms a bit when I do, but others just make a box with their own.” She nodded at that, moving her arms into that box. “Your legs are a bit too crossed but most people wouldn’t notice that unless it put your butt into relief.”

The greenette jumped at that, looking over her shoulder at that with a blush. Was it… “Um. If I asked you to look objectively…”

Takehiko shrugged. “I can do my best, but I’ll appreciate it at least while I’m telling you what your leg position does.” She grumbled a little at that, starting to turn. “I’m Takehiko Tamashiro, by the way.”

Pausing, she looked up at him, the alleyway changing the light enough to get her freckles in sharp relief on her pale skin. “Izuki Midoriya. I normally go by Izuku, though.”

He nodded. “It is nice to meet you, Midoriya-san. I’ll do my best to be objective while looking at your backside.” That got her to become a tomato again before finishing her turn. And… yeah, Takehiko would definitely say her normal posture put her butt out. She didn’t have the biggest he’d seen, literally it was the slimmest he knew about. However Izuki seemed to be hiding something else. “Can you put your legs next to each other? ...okay, now spread them a little bit. Too much. Did you just choose the tightest pants you could?”

Izuki turned back around, her head a tomato still from how embarrassed she was at all this. “Well, um, that’s… yes. The others were too baggy and I couldn’t move around well in them, so I have to wear tight pants if they aren’t made for exercise.” She scuffed the ground with her big red shoes a moment. “And… no. I don’t have any friends at all.”

Takehiko frowned, seeing that this girl went from embarrassment in red to sadness in her normal color almost too quickly. “Well, how about me?” That got her eyes to come up to him, and he figured jewels were a good analogy indeed. They went from cloudy to clear very quickly. “We can at least be acquaintances, Midoriya-san. I think we’ve gotten at least that close from this.”

Apparently even that was more than she’d expected, given she almost teleported into his chest with the speed Takehiko got hugged at. Izuki sniffed a bit. “...no. I like friend more.”

He pat her head at that. Man, she was almost as tall as Itsuka. “Friends it is.” He chuckled a little bit before looking at Izuki again. “Come on, we should probably go somewhere else to have a good chat.”

Nodding at that, the greenette stepped back, quickly wiping her eyes on her hoodie’s sleeve. After a moment to compose herself, she follows after him to go somewhere else. The amber-eyed man had no real plan, but a nearby cafe looked good. So the pair went in and shared a table as they started talking. Mostly their interests and goals since neither wanted to air out their bad school lives or how ‘Izuku’ came about so publicly. No one was actively watching, but who knew what sort of weirdos recorded people talking in cafes like this…

But not long after Takehiko was done telling Izuku that he wasn’t laughing at the goal to be the greatest hero because it seemed unachievable but because being friends with that person would help his own goal to Kingship very well, something changed. At first he passed it off as someone having fun with their friends loudly before Izuku gasped, covering his mouth as he watched something moving towards them. Before the black-haired young man could ask, a pink line moved over them. It made the world into literal pixels for a moment before he knew what had happened, and then things were back to normal. “...ssshhhhhit.” Standing up, Takehiko reached for his phone as he looked outside the cafe. And sure enough, there was something very odd indeed. It looked a little like Lovelica (Loverica? Love Freaka? Later.) but it was… somehow even more monstrous. Inside he couldn’t hear the monster’s words, but he was calling up the one person he knew could fix this. “Hello, CR? I have a Bugster Virus walking around. It looks like Toki Meki Crisis but I don’t know where it came from!”

While Takehiko told the person on the other line where to come and started moving to head out, Izuki was jolted from a short trance by that same movement. Shaking her head a little, the disguised girl watched his broad back as he ended the call. “Ladies and gentlemen, please stay inside!” While some people looked at the random kid telling them to stay put like he was crazy, their faces changed quickly after he flipped his belt buckle so it called out  **“ZIKUU DRIVER!”** Any other time, he might have basked in the applause. But there was a monster outside. “Kamen Riders will be coming by to fix this situation quickly. For now, I’ll be heading out to do damage control. Please, stay inside the building and away from the windows.”

As people shuffled away, he turned his gaze on Izuki. As amber met jewel green, she felt something…  _ shift _ in her head. What that was, though, she couldn’t say. “That means you too. Go on now.” Nodding, she moved to stand back from the windows and watch him. Pulling his main Ridewatch from his pocket, Takehiko walked out the door himself. “Hey, ugly! What brings you out here?”

The pink and purple monstrosity of fashion that had a wilted bouquet of roses sewn onto his shoulder looked over to the defiant young man. “Oh! You look like you have popularity with the ladies… GIVE IT TO ME!” Heart-shaped bullets flew from his hands at Takehiko. But they were slow enough he managed to dodge out of the way even without slowing or stopping time. A car lost its window, but most people had insurance for that kind of thing these days.

“Yeah… that ain’t happening. Not even sure how you’d take it from me.” Spinning the dial on his Ridewatch, Takehiko pressed the button on top.  **“ZI-O!”** was called out, and he stood tall. Tossing it up with his right hand, he smirked a little as the monster and his harem of maid Bugster soldiers watched the tiny item before he caught it in his left hand. Making sure it was oriented right, he slot it into the 9’oclock slot on his Driver. “Henshin!” In one smooth motion, he locked it in place before hitting the button on top of the Zikuu Driver to unlock it before flipping it around with the sound of a clock hitting the top of an hour echoing down the street.

**“RIDERRRR TIIIIIME!”** was heard even inside buildings now.  **“KAMEEEN RIDER** **_ZI-O!_ ** **”**

...if anyone asked, Takehiko was only excited by that. But in the privacy of his own suit, his grin was accompanied by probably one of the few unsexy boners he ever had. And this not being his first use of the armor had not changed that. “You stand in the presence of a King!” Flaring his arm out at that statement, Zi-O curled his hand into a fist as he looked at the Bugsters. He had nothing that would damage them since Lovelica was impervious to attacks… though that was worth testing since the only version he knew about before this was much sleeker and didn’t have his harem on chained leashes. “So if you kneel now, I may show you mercy.”

Lovelica looked at him like Zi-O was… actually, he couldn’t quite tell. The monster had no real discernible facial features. But given he started laughing, with the maids giving very nervous giggles alongside him, apparently mercy would not be shown. “You?! Please,  **I** am the real king here!” He put a hand to his chest. “The world only needs Another Lovelica to rule it as their loving king and all will be much easier on their fragile lives.”

As the monster spoke, Kamen Rider Zi-O was making his way over quickly. If he remembered right, Lovelica was dependent on his harem for even the slightest bit of immunity to damage. So, if the  **“ZIKAN GIRADE!”** could go through the chains in its  **“KEN!”** mode…

The Bugster maids stumbled away before running. Very quickly, they became normal women in normal clothes, though one of them was in fact a girl with wings in a maid outfit that flew away quickly. “Wha--hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Lovelica growled before lashing out at Zi-O. His clawed hand was knocked away by the sword before being slashed a few times. “What? But I’m supposed to be invincible!”

A kick knocked him back a few more steps. “Yeah, when you have a harem of maids. But I fixed that for them.” Zi-O could see that he was dealing damage but even if he used a finishing attack here, would this Lovelica actually go down? How much was he actually doing? “I hope Sensei gets here soon…”

An engine rumbled behind the silver-helmeted Rider. He spares a glance to see that a man in pink was reading a yellow motorcycle. His wavy hair curved to the left, nearly the same shade of pink as his suit. Zi-O grinned under his mask as he saw who had arrived. “Sensei! And here I thought you’d take a little longer to get here!”

With a swipe of his thumb over where his nose was without the helmet on, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid swerved around the newest Rider to smack Lovelica with his tires. The Gamer paused on seeing he actually did damage. “...huh. Wasn’t expecting that to work. Well, I’m just here to deliver something, Zi-O!” Reaching up to his head, Ex-Aid rummaged around for a second before pulling out a familiarly shaped but differently colored object. “You’re not going to be a good Rider if we’re fixing everything for you!” After a toss, he looked back to Lovelica. “Though I am curious how this guy works…”

The monstrous Bugster let out a roar as he ran at the Riders. “You fucks are going to be kneeling to me, and you’ll wish you  _ were _ me while women service me!” He  **“MISS!”** ed Ex-Aid by a wide margin, the pink Gamer jumping over him quickly. Snapping his fingers, the more experienced Rider landed on a block of chocolate brick. “What the… Get down here! I’ve gotta pummel you!”

“You really aren’t Lovelica, that’s for sure.” That got the monstrous Bugster to pause. “He was not nearly so eager for a fight. And way smoother with the ladies.”

“I’m plenty smooth, but I can always be smoother!”

“Sure… but stealing it from other guys?” Zi-O turned the dial on Ex-Aid’s Ridewatch and hit the button, hearing his senpai’s title be called. “That’s just dumb. And I bet you’re not smooth at all. Can you do anything like this?” Switching his hold on the pink Ridewatch, he mirrors the initial transformation by locking the second Ridewatch into the 3’oclock slot, hitting the switch to unlock the Driver again (...man, listen to that clock and music. Sento really did go all out on this.), and pushing down on the right side to activate it. **“RIDERRR TIIIME! KAMEEEEN RIDERRR** ** _ZI-O!_** **ARRRMOR TIIIIME!** **LEVEL UP!** **_EX-AIIIIID!_** **”** The future King smirked to himself as the white and armor flew down, covering his forearms with items that looked a little like gauntlet versions of the Gashacon Breaker, without sword bits, and his chest received a display just like Ex-Aid’s own, with additions to his helmet that looked like the middle of his hair. On his shoulders were… two giant Gashats. Well, at least the theming was the same with all the Rider Armors it seemed. Looking around, he saw that using the Ex-Aid Ridewatch had also caused a bunch of chocolate brick blocks to appear along with some power-ups. Turning his eyes back on the purple, wrinkled Bugster, he knocked his hammer fists together. “Come on! Let’s see what you’ve got!”

The monstrous Lovelica let out another roar before running at Zi-O. More sound effect bubbles popped up as the new Rider found himself able to dodge easily. This Bugster was not trained well if at all. After another  **“MISS!”** , his fist came around to smack into the monster’s side and Zi-O smirked at the  **“CRITICAL!”** that rang out. A few more came out as he kept up his barrage of attacks, though they downgraded to  **“HIT!”** bubbles soon. He backed off for a second to see if Lovelica would try again. And indeed he did, prompting more alerts that the monster missed.

Though he did land one hit… that was parried. Zi-O started another punching combo, though after four punches, he kicked Lovelica away. Glancing at the gauntlet on his right arm, he pulled it from the disassembled hammer to bring it to his belt. **“FINISH TIME! EX-AID!”** He glanced down at the notification of **“CRITICAL!** **TIME BREAK!”** in front of his chest as he put his hand back into the hammer gauntlet. Zi-O grinned under his mask before punching the glowing text at Lovelica. The words and their borders wrapped around the Bugster, sending him stumbling back a couple steps. But the Kamen Rider hadn’t been idle, using the chocolate bricks as steps to hop up above the purple monster. With a yell of effort, he comes down with a strong punch into Lovelica’s face. The mangled Bugster flew back before exploding in the air.

Zi-O blinked as he saw the monster turn into a man. The first thought that came to mind is  _ “How does this guy not have girls throwing themselves at him? ...oh, wait. His personality must be shit.” _ Bringing his arms out of the hammers, he pulls both Ridewatches off his belt. Emu Hojo strode up to his side, spinning the Mighty Action X Gashat on his finger. “Well, I wasn’t expecting this. You know what’s going on?”

Takehiko’s question got a shaken head. “Not at all. I’ve never seen a Bugster turn into a human like that. And more than, this wasn’t Lovelica at all. I remember that guy and he was a real pain in the butt.” The soon-to-be-college student snorted at that as the doctor looked back to see police cruisers were coming by. “You want to deal with these guys or leave it to me? I wouldn’t mind doing it for you.”

Shaking his own head, Takehiko declined. “Like you said, I won’t be a good Kamen Rider if I let you handle it all. I’ll just say everything that’s relevant though, cause I don’t know anything from before the guy showed up.”

Izuki stood outside the cafe, her hands clasped in front of her waist as she watched Takehiko. She didn’t know what had changed just quite, but it certainly had something to do with the man being pushed into the police car. Apparently the police had found something near him on the ground, and the doctor went with them while Takehiko turned to return to his new friend. As he did, she had a few ideas about what to say when he got close enough.

  1. Good job! Your debut went well!
  2. You did well. I’m a little jealous…
  3. Wow! I didn’t know you were a Kamen Rider!
  4. Take me home and take my virg



Hang on, where’d that last one come from?! Izuki’s face went red again as she hid her face in her collar. It hadn’t even left her mouth and she was embarrassed it even came to mind. The greenette barely caught Takehiko’s greeting as he got back. “Um, wow! I didn’t know you were a Kamen Rider!”

He chuckled a little at that. “Well, it isn’t something I’m supposed to advertise until I have to. How’d I do?”

Takehiko was rubbing his neck, looking at her expectantly. And Izuki found her breath was almost stolen from that. “Uh… Yo-you fought well! I ma-may steal one of those moves for myself in the U.A.U. entrance exam next weekend.”

The girl thought that sounded alright. And by his short laugh, he did too. “I wish I’d get to see that! Say, if you’re going into that, are you using Support items?”

Izuki thought on how to answer. Well, it had worked for everyone else that wasn’t from her school. “I’m actual-lly a late bloomer. My Quirk is pretty weird, after all.” What do you call a Quirk that gave you the ability to enhance your body to absurd levels… wait, body. Hm. “I call it Super Power.”

Takehiko blinked at her. “A late bloomer? Dang, that must be quite the Quirk! Mind showing me it uh… tomorrow?” Amber eyes looked skyward as he crossed his arms. “Yeah, tomorrow works for me. You?”

Her brain short-circuited for a second. Gods above, his eyes were pretty… “Ye-ye-yes! Tomorr-rrow works fine!” She starts to bring her phone out. “Here, let’s exchange conta-tact info. Make it easy to let you know where to find me.” Izuki almost didn’t believe  _ she _ was initiating this time. Her! Izuki Midoriya, one of the shyest people around! What gave her this much confidence… “Okay. Then. Should we go back home now?”

With a nod, Takehiko indicated his train station’s path and learned she’d be going the same way. As the pair walked, they talked about their parents still in Japan. Izuki gave her condolences over his dead father, Takehiko gave his sympathies for her father that worked overseas. As they stepped onto the train car headed for the same station, the greenette squeaked as she was held to his chest. “Sorry. Habit. You’re about the same height as a different friend I helped like this.” As his arm started to lift, she felt like this was another time to make an important decision.

  1. Let the arm go and stand next to him
  2. Grab the hand and put it back on her side
  3. Grab the hand and put it in her pants



...definitely not that last one. But, she didn’t mind the hand on her side. Takehiko blinked down at her. “Alright. I’ll leave it.” As they traveled down the route, he looked around. Hm? Now why was that girl with the black hair and eyes looking at him so intensely? He didn’t know her. Oh, maybe she was one of those prudes who thought anything like this was too much PDA. Well, she could take that and stuff it! His new friend wouldn’t suffer anything if he had the chance to help.


	4. Going For Exams

Takehiko whistled to himself. “...wow. I didn’t know you were this close! I just knew you went to the same station as me for your school.” Izuki’s confused blink made him chuckle. “I’ve seen you a few times on my way to Musutafu High. I thought about saying hi a few times but your train always came earlier than mine and by the time I started to turn…”

The greenette nodded at that. It made sense. Walking up to her and her mom’s apartment, Izuki fiddled with her hands. “You don’t ne-need to follow me up to my place, you know…” Even if she was really happy that her new friend was doing so. “I could’ve handl-dled this much on my own.”

“I know.” The future King smiled at the girl he didn’t know would be the greatest Hero Japan ever produced. “But I figure staying close by wouldn’t hurt for a little longer. And from here, I can tell you where I live, if you ever wanna come by and visit.” That got surprised green eyes to look at him widely. Takehiko turned to point, able to see his own house well even if it was one among many. “See that area there? I’m the… sixth house in, right after the corner. Pretty far to the konbeni, but the train station isn’t far at all.”

Standing next to the first kind man she’d met who wasn’t just someone Izuki would never see again, she looked out. Pretty far to the convenience store… oh, was it that one there?

  1. Can you move behind me and point like that?
  2. I need a little more than that.
  3. Oh, I see it!
  4. Can I take yo



Definitely not that last one! Izuki shook her head a little before deciding to go with “Can you move behi-hind me, and point from there?” Takehiko blinked, but nodded. Stepping behind the greenette, he crouched a bit. Placing his head on her shoulder, amber eyes missed the girl’s blush. “Um!”

He didn’t seem to hear her, bringing his other arm up. “Right over there. Do you see it now?” Izuki followed his hand a little easier now. Not trusting her voice right now, she nodded quickly. Her green eyes did see it, and she took in a breath to try and calm down. As Takehiko stood up, he missed the slight hitch in her intake. “So then, I guess I’ll be heading home now. You have a good night, Midoriya-san.”

She waved to him, her cheeks less red now. “Good night, Tamashiro-kun!” Turning to enter her home, Izuki froze as she saw her mother standing there and holding back her own reaction to the young man walking away from their apartment. Turning to her daughter, Inko nearly let loose the waterworks to flood their apartment. Izuki managed to rush forward and get her to at least keep quiet even as she gushed over her daughter having a new friend and such a handsome one at that. “Moooom! He’s not like that!”

A few minutes later, Takehiko stretched his arms out as he slipped his shoes off. “I’m home!” Walking into the quiet house, he took a look at the living room. No mom or uncle. Kitchen and dining room, no one. Oh, there was a note on the counter actually. Seemed his mom was out with her friends while Uncle Juni was doing some longer work at Kujigojidou tonight. As he started to make dinner for himself, the future King smiled a little. “...she smelled nice.”

Walking away from the training facility where he was given another grueling session with Tsukasa, the man who styled himself a King glanced at his phone again. His mom already knew that he’d be out a little longer than usual because of meeting a new friend (and that had gotten him quite the reaction, though not as ecstatic as Nejire’s announcement of coming by when she had free time and no other plans). Dagobah Beach… That name had some familiarity to him but Takehiko didn’t quite know why. Well, he figured he’d learn once he arrived.

From near the edge of Musutafu to a different city’s beach was still a long trek and he couldn’t wait for that motorcycle license exam to happen. No Kamen Rider could go without a vehicle of some sort, and while Takehiko had heard that his bike was being made, he still needed a legal license to drive it. But the course had been ruined by some villain going on a rampage nearby so the closest place to take the test at was being repaired. But it wouldn’t be until after his test at Chaldea that he’d be able to take it.

At least he was used to walking everywhere when he had no vehicles. Itsuka’s own motorcycle was useful for practice after she’d gotten it and let him drive it. One ding didn’t mean he was hopeless though…

Shaking his head, Takehiko looked up. There was the sign that said Dagobah Municipal Beach was just a few more minutes away. Dagobah Municipal… Wasn’t that the name of a trash dump? Stepping up to the stairs, he looked around. Apparently not. It was a very clean looking beach that had a couple groups of people on it. But close to the waves was a person doing some shadowboxing. The newest Kamen Rider figured that was who he was here to meet.

And indeed it was, Izuki was wearing a deep green tracksuit not too far from her eye color. Speaking of, those eyes looked a little brighter than usual. “Yo, Midoriya-san!” That broke her concentration, the greenette turning to look at him. “Nice spot you got here.”

The disguised girl smiled, and took a hands on her hips pose. “Thanks. I actually cleaned this all up myself a few years ago.” Takehiko’s goggled eyes made her grin. “It was part of my training, but my trainer said that it was one of the ways early Heroes did their deeds.” Her grin toned down as Izuki looked around. “Charity work and not asking for any recognition.”

He nodded at that. It made sense. “So you did a public service and got in a good workout at the same time. Kinda wish I’d heard about that, would probably have helped me get ready for Chaldea or U.A. myself way earlier.”

She tilted her head at that. “Why are you being allowed to take Chaldea’s entrance exam? If you wanted to go to U.A. instead, shouldn’t you be free to?”

Takehiko laughed at that. “I asked Tsukasa-san about that myself.”

* * *

_ Tsukasa looked at Takehiko. “After talking to you about your ambitions, I think Chaldea is a better fit. You’ll have a chance to learn about how to interact with people from different places as you not just in standing but from actual different countries. While U.A.U. takes in people from other countries as well, their main student body is comprised of Japanese people. Politicians have to deal with more than just local people at higher levels.” The man in magenta and black armor drew his sword from the Ride Booker. “Now then. Draw your sword. We’ve got some more lessons to beat into you.” _

* * *

Izuki hummed at that. “Does Chaldea split up the students based on how many they have?”

Nodding, he stretched out his legs. “Got it in one. So while there are going to be a lot of Japanese people there still, most of my senpai are going to be from other countries. And who knows how long I could stay there, if they manage to get that facility on I-Island going.”

She paused at that. He might be going away to that scientific marvel in the future?

  1. Can’t you take me?
  2. Why not stay here?
  3. Can you take me?



For a second she almost wanted to ask the last one before Izuki realized it probably fell in the same category as the other last questions she’d gotten. “Why not stay here in Japan?”

Takehiko thought on that. “I’m definitely going to come back to use Japan as my homebase once I’m a fully fledged Pro Hero and Kamen Rider. But I don’t know if staying here all my life is a good idea. I want to be a King the whole world can look to. If I’m just here in my home country alone, will I really know the best way to govern or rule anything?”

Izuki still thought his ambition to be a King in this time of elections in most countries except Russia was weird. But she could see that he was serious. “...well, I’ll vote for you. I know that much.” She smiled at him as Takehiko gave her a surprised look. But then her own face went surprised, given he started to cry. The greenette started to babble, wondering what she did that could have possibly done this to him. Apologies started becoming legible even if she didn’t quite know what for.

Wiping his eyes gently, he smiled at her. “You’re okay. I just… You’re the first person not in my family to say that.” And wasn’t that a crazy notion? Itsuka may have indulged his speeches but she never gave the slightest hint of thinking he had a chance to get it turned into reality. Setsuna was too new to support him politically and he was okay with that, but Izuki was someone he knew even less about and yet… “Thank you.”

Even if it was still tear-tinged, the smile Takehiko gave her was enough to get Izuki’s heart racing. She bit her lip, fighting against an urge to just run up and… “I look forward to watching your political career, Takehiko-ou-sama.”

  
  


Takehiko clinked his glass against Setsuna’s, sitting with her in a much less upscale dinner than their first date. “Congrats! I knew you’d make it through that exam.”

The new member of U.A.U.’s recommended students roster let out a short chortle. “It was way harder than I thought! But I just kept in mind somethin’ pretty simple.” Takehiko rose an eyebrow at that. “This exam may be rough. But someone else has a way rougher road ahead of him. And I’ll support him as I can, but he still has a lot to go through on his own.” Setsuna grinned as she saw that he was stunned by that. She sipped on her tea, amused that he looked so close to… “Oh, come on, what’s with the tears?! It can’t be that weird to hear!”

He laughed a little, wiping his eyes. “Well, I just… Do you know how rare it is for people to actually say they think I have a chance at my political dream instead of, well, anything else?” Takehiko took in a breath, holding it for a few seconds before he let it out. Amber eyes opened up to look at forest green ones again. “Thank you. Really.”

The pair enjoyed their dinner, knowing that life would just get busier once summer vacation ended in a few weeks. And it was also where Setsuna wished him luck, seeing as Takehiko’s exam for Chaldea was in a few days. After that, he was confident he’d get a motorcycle license easily enough. Just because he couldn’t ride one in the streets didn’t mean he couldn’t practice on the Machines Builder or Decader. Though he’d really like to fly one of those Dandeliners that Knuckle used to get around quickly, he knew that such a vehicle was not something you gave the new guy lightly. But that didn’t mean Takehiko couldn’t fantasize. Speaking of things you don’t give the new guy, he was looking forward to earning enough trust to learn some of the secrets hidden in the Rider Base. Hell, just getting to  _ enter _ the place would be nice! But Tsukasa wasn’t letting him do that until he was firmly a member in Chaldea’s student body. And if that didn’t work, he’d just go to Todai like he’d planned… shit, their exams were the same day as his motorcycle license exam.

Setsuna looked at him in amusement as their nice conversation over dessert was disrupted by Takehiko scratching at his head vigorously. “What’s goin’ on in that brain of yours?”

Amber eyes come down from the ceiling to look at his date again. “Well, you know how I’m going to Chaldea on recommendation? Todai doesn’t have their exams the same day. Rather, the earliest day I could get a motorcycle license exam is that same day. And I won’t know if I get into Chaldea for a week after I do that test!” Setsuna blinked at that. On asking why he can’t do them both in one day, he answered that Todai and the motorcycle thing were also at the same time. “...I feel like Tsukasa-san did that to me on purpose.”

He gave Setsuna a deadpanned look on hearing her chuckle at that. “Oh, come on! It does sound a little funny, y’know?”

Takehiko moved his hand down to rest his elbow on the table, his chin on his palm. “Y’know. I’m surprised you talk so impolitely after seeing your place in those pics.” While he and Izuki texted normally when they did text, and she wasn’t gushing about this or that Pro Hero that was debuting on the scene, Setsuna liked to use photos and text on them whenever she had a reaction. She could text like the average person sure, but there were a lot of times when she just didn’t type and took a few minutes to get the perfect reaction pic instead. “What do your parents do again?”

She gave a short huff. “All I hear whenever I ask dad is ‘please’. In English! What kind of dismissal is that? I’m getting real tired of it.”

Nodding to that, Takehiko was able to understand that conceptually. Though there was a part of him that was wondering what it would be like to have a dad alive enough to even be mad at. But before he could linger on that too long, the future King changed the subject. He didn’t want one of the last things he talked about with Setsuna here to be something that annoyed her. So Takehiko decided to try asking if she had any ideas for where they could go next Sunday. He’d be free of exams and her own days off were then, so…

The sharp-toothed greenette tapped her chin in thought at that. “Well, I saw an ad for some laser tag place not too long ago. Wanna try something like that?” Setsuna showed off her chompers in a grin as he affirmed that could be fun. “Great! And if you wanna invite any other future subjects, feel free. I’m pretty sure they give a discount on group size.”

He gave a light grimace at that. “...you’d have an easier time inviting other people. I’d just have maybe one person to bring, and that’s if they have time in their training schedule. U.A.U., but the general admission entrance exam.” Now that would be interesting. How would Izuki react to Setsuna? ...shit, how would Izuki react to his first idea for a bill to pass? Setsuna had laughed but seemed intrigued under it. A shy girl like her would probably have a very different reaction to Takehiko’s plan to legitimately allow himself multiple wives. And other people beyond those few that had Quirks which medically needed other people around else the one would be turned into a cripple of some sort. “Come on, let’s get going.”

Their tab paid, he led the young woman with cascading curly green locks out of the restaurant. They could stick together a little longer before she had to call a cab but with dessert and their drinks finished, they had no more reason to sit around. Setsuna looked at him with a calculating look. Takehiko rose an eyebrow back on realizing what was going on. “Yeees?”

Seeming to come to a decision, Setsuna nodded to herself. She grinned up at him but what for left him confused. After all, the girl who could split herself up hadn’t said a thing since calling the cab. As she giggled mischievously to herself, Takehiko just hummed to himself. If she wanted to be mysterious, that was her thing. Once the car arrived around the corner, he didn’t notice since he hadn’t seen what she was looking for. But when it stopped in front of them, Takehiko slipped his phone back into his pocket. He was about to tell Setsuna he’d see her later before the future King got tugged forward. Over his confused queries, the greenette sat herself down and pulled him into the cab. “You’re coming with me today!”

The driver looked up at the rearview mirror. “You’re Tokage-san and her plus one?” After getting a confirmation, the man nodded. “I’ll get you to your destination in a bit.” The older man turned the radio volume back up to let the young adults listen to Present Mic as he began interviewing someone. The pair talked quietly about why Takehiko was in the cab too, getting lost in their own world and using the talk show to not be overheard. Or at least, that was the plan.

Their talk was interrupted by a deep, rumbling voice from the front of the cab at a stop light.  **“DRIVE!”** Looking forward, their eyes widened on seeing the cab driver put a hand to his chest. Takehiko’s eyes widened as he realized what was going on. But the appropriate response was not to bring out his own transformation just yet. Setsuna was in the combat zone, if indeed this tiny car could be called one.

The man now a monster turned around, and aimed what looked very much like a gun welded onto his left arm at them. “I’m gonna take this car to a place where we won’t be found. And if you don’t want your boytoy to die, girly, you’ll bend over the hood and let me have some fun.” Unlike that false Lovelica, this guy had a warbly voice. Probably something to do with the transformation into a monster and his vocal chords being messed with because that mouth did not look natural. “Or do I need to motivate you some?”

Setsuna gulped down a lump. That was certainly not the way she’d thought this night would go. And he was still managing to drive well despite not even looking back at the road once. “Ye-yeah. Okay. I’ll… do that.”

The chuckle that came out of the monster sounded like a faulty engine. “Good. And if you try to get it on so you can have some nice, wholesome fun before I have mine, you won’t like the consequences.” He gave them another hard look before turning back around. “I don’t want to clean up blood from my nice leather, after all.”

Takehiko grit his teeth. Setsuna was scared, he could see that. But she was still trying to think of a way out of this. His own powers as a Rider were… he didn’t know if the three Ridewatches he had would do it, but he’d certainly try. And the guy had turned off the radio too, which made bringing his phone out now something that would probably get it shot. If only it worked when he stopped ti

When he stopped time. That was it! He wrapped an arm around Setsuna, giving her a reassuring smile as Takehiko came up with an idea that would surely see them both out of this without harm. Though he didn’t want to tell her just in case the Another Drive up front could hear. That would make it much harder to pull off.

Pulling into a wide alley a few minutes later, the monster turned to look at them before getting out himself. The door next to Setsuna was opened up. “Come on, both of you, this way.” Using the door blaster attached to his left arm, Another Drive waved them out. Setsuna was out first, while Takehiko stood next to the car. But the monstrous red driver didn’t want him quite so close. “You go over there, next to the wall.” After he was content with where the not-so-important kid was, he turned to Setsuna who hadn’t moved to the hood. “Oh come on girly, do I have to shoot him?”

A bullet came flying at him, which Takehiko made it look like he only just ducked. There was a lot of time between it and him normally, but with his Quirk, it was a lot easier to dodge. Especially when he had warning like that. “Okay! Okay! Just… don’t shoot him again.” Setsuna glanced at Takehiko, hoping his plan would start soon. She started to undo the belt at her waist, leaving it in the loops as she started to unbutton and unzip her pants. Pushing it down, she almost left her panties on as well before those went too. Leaning down, she glanced over at the monster. “Please, be gentle…”

He laughed and lowered his gun arm. Another Drive brought his right hand to his chest, and turned back into the cab driver with a black and purple item in his grip. “We’ll see. And if you get any ideas, I can turn back into Kamen Rider Drive and deal with it.” As he started to reach down to his pants to push them down, the cab driver found himself pushed into his own hood, arms behind his back and item out of his grasp. “Huh?!”

Takehiko slowly stood back up from ducking the bullet. It wasn’t a real one made from gunpowder and metal, it was like what he and a lot of Kamen Riders shot out of their own weapons, energy. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a scorch mark where his shoulder was. As Setsuna got ready for horror though, the young man with amber eyes turned them on the monster. And he felt some measure of satisfaction. The fucker did need to turn back to normal to do anything! With that learned, he froze time. Takehiko may not have been able to call up the police but he could certainly detain the guy while time was stopped. He put Setsuna a good distance away first, and then moved to get the little item out of the cab driver’s grasp. Huh. It did look like Kamen Rider Drive on the front of this messed up Ridewatch. That was kinda messed up. He sets the thing on top of the cab before pulling out his phone and then getting the guy in the right position…

And time resumed.

Setsuna let out a little yelp as she found herself suddenly off the car hood while the guy who’d been about to… was now being pushed onto it. Quickly getting her clothes back in order, she looked at Takehiko as he called up the police. “...and can you send in Tomari-san please? This guy I’ve got in custody was able to turn into a weird version of Kamen Rider DrivVVFFVF!”

Her eyes widened as Takehiko was sent stumbling back, his hair puffed out a little as sparks ran along it and his phone was short-circuited. Hopefully it hadn’t done anything to his ear… Meanwhile, green eyes look at the guy who was rubbing his hands and looking around frantically. Before her hand could separate and fly over to grab that thing on top of the car first, he had.  **“DRIVE!”** The transformation back into the monstrous Drive brought with it a change. The sedan turned into some sort of mangled Tridoron! It was still able to move, but…

Takehiko managed to get his wits about him as the door gun came back up.  **“ZIKUU DRIVER!”** rang out before he dodged a burst of fire. “You messed with the wrong people!” Bringing his Ridewatch out, Setsuna couldn’t help a light grin on hearing the clock wind as he locked it into place before hitting the button.  **“ZI-O!”** Takehiko stopped time again to dodge more gunfire as Another Drive hopped onto Another Tridoron’s hood. “Henshin!”

Slotting his Ridewatch into the 9’oclock slot, he hit the crown on top of the Driver before pushing down on that same side. Takehiko didn’t have time for flash, he needed to get on this now! “Setsuna, call the cops and tell them what I’m doing!”

The greenette ran after the retreating car as monster and Rider fought on top of it even as it moved into traffic. Kamen Rider Zi-O was surprised that this thing was able to drive on its own. What the hell kind of shit was going on here?! Still, he used what footing he had. As the car drove recklessly through the Tokyo streets, he found it a minor miracle that no one was being run over or anything. Soon enough, even these busy streets widened out as people moved away so as to not chance being hit by a stray gunshot or slash of the Zikan Girade. Or even just being sideswiped by the Tridoron knockoff. Still, try as he might, Zi-O was not getting good results. His main use of his sword was sticking on top of the car, because his boots were not made to latch on to cars.

The sound of a powerful engine catching up to them broke both their attentions from the fight. There was also the sound of something being hit that they ignored. After all, for the clock-themed Rider, it was quite the encouraging sight coming up. Takehiko grinned in his mask as he watched Shinnosuke Tomari roll down his window. “Zi-O!” Wait hang on that didn’t sound like he was going to help and he wasn’t even wearing his armor “Catch!”

It took a moment before Zi-O steadied himself enough to look at the red item… red Ridewatch tossed his way. “Oh damn. Lookie there.” He turned his gaze back to the monstrous Drive and turned the Ridewatch toward him. “My turn.”

Turning the dial and completing the face, the red Ridewatch let out a  **“DRIVE!”** before he stood up to slot it into his belt. Giving the belt a spin, he grinned as the armor formed over him, adding an additional layer of protection.  **“KAMEEEEN RIDERRRR** **_ZI-O_ ** **! ARMORRRR TIIIIME!”** He glanced down as his belt made an interesting sound before two voices rang out.  **“DO-RIVE!** **_DRIVE!_ ** **”** And Zi-O chuckled. Mr. Belt came out of his Zikuu Driver, eh? Neat. Well, now it was time to do some work! His boots… still weren’t meant for sticking to cars. But now if he fell off, running alongside this knockoff would be way easier, he could feel that much.

Shinnosuke herded them into an empty parking garage, somehow. He wasn’t quite sure why the knockoff copied the real thing as he and Another Drive fought, but Zi-O was fine with it. He was looking forward to being on solid ground again. Jumping off, the real Tridoron hit the knockoff into a spinout that had it implanted in a wall even as the monster landed on his feet and stumbled a little. Perfect timing.

**“ZI-O! DRIVE! FINISH TIME!”** Shinnosuke looked a little surprised as the Tridoron began to drive in great circles around the pair. He was not surprised when Zi-O started using the car to springboard around the copy and slash at it repeatedly. And then instead of going for the final attack as he’d envisioned it from his seat, a heavy slash to the back, Zi-O launched Another Drive into the air with his attack. Taking a step back, he watched as the man started falling back towards the ground. With a quick stance change, Zi-O spun around to give the red monster a powerful back kick. Sent flying away, Another Drive exploded in midair while the real Tridoron slowly came to a stop behind Kamen Rider Zi-O. The two watched as the monster turned back into a driver and a black item clambered away from him. Before they could take so much as a step toward it, it exploded with a small spark.

Picking up the bits of broken tech, Shinnosuke looked at the hole where the face was. “This is definitely some weird Ridewatch. The police found something like this at the scene where that… I guess Another Lovelica is a good way to label it. Because Tsukasa and Sento and I agreed that these items aren’t just one-offs.” Takehiko looked at his senpai in the police force curiously, asking what he meant by that. “There have been other calls about people looking like monstrous Riders. This one is just the first we’ve managed to catch.”

Nodding at that, the young man watched as the copycat was pushed into a police car. “...think any of his victims will come forward?”

At that, Shinnosuke sucked on his lips as if he’d eaten a lemon. “Hard to say. Some people have but a lot of cases like this don’t have victim or witness testimony very often. And since he only attempted it with your date, even that won’t be enough for some judges to do more than the bare minimum of justice.”

Takehiko scowled at that. This guy had been arrogant. Who knew how long he’d been doing this. And he might get off lightly? Another reason to become King. No one should be able to get away from justice quickly. “Speaking of my date, was she taken home?”

The older man nodded, glad to think of something besides some of the criminals he’d put away possibly roaming the streets now. “Indeed. And she said she’d want to see you as soon as you’re free to the officer who picked her up and told me about where to find you.” Shinnosuke turned to the huffed chuckle that he made. “Don’t wanna go?”

“Nah. Just surprised she still wants to see me tonight is all.” Takehiko nodded to him. “Are any officers free to give me a lift? My phone is deader than normal thanks to that guy’s Quirk.”

It hadn’t been just a spark, he was pretty sure that guy had a similar Quirk to his last bully in high school. The fucker had some variation of a taser built into his hands and it sucked big time to feel that in full. After he’d told the officers that info, they’d added Quirk-sealing mittens to the unconscious man’s hands.

Shinnosuke nodded. “I am! We can talk a little about your fight with my abilities while I take you to her.”

That sounded fine to Takehiko. After all, he’d done the same with Sento and had a physical appointment with Hojo-sensei for both health and getting better at using the Ex-AidArmor too. And with a police officer driving, what would be the harm?

Takehiko was holding on very tightly to the dashboard as the Tridoron came to a stop outside the Tokage residence. “And we’ll talk about your use of my car as a springboard next time. ...you okay?”

Slowly, amber eyes turned towards Shinnosuke. “...who the hell taught you to drive and why do you two still have a license to?” As the officer laughed, the young man slowly got up on shaky feet. “See you round, Tomari-san.” While the red car began to pull back, Takehiko slowly drew in a breath and let it out just as. Now calmer, he turned to ring the… bell to… He hadn’t gotten the best look at the place as they were driving up, too busy trying to not get thrown around by Shinnosuke’s driving. But now that he had the time, Takehiko wondered what sort of job Setsuna’s dad did to afford a place like THIS. It was massive! The only things he knew were bigger were schools and malls… even some of those might have paled in comparison. “Uh, Takehiko Tamashiro is here to see a Miss Setsuna Tokage?”

Bringing his hand away from the intercom, he looked between it and the gate. Setsuna’s voice came through with a buzz. “Come on in! The fastest way to my room is through the first door on the left.”

The gates swung open. Takehiko walked towards the place, whistling to himself. Man, this was a wide building. Probably at least four stories tall too. That was the front door… so left, and the first door he came to. Hopefully someone unlocked it. He’d feel a little silly having to cross from one side of the house to the other, even a relatively short distance like this.

Thankfully, he could just go right in the door he found. Glancing up and down the hallway, he saw no one waving or any body parts floating around. But there were stairs just in front of him, so Takehiko started up those. On the second floor, he didn’t see any… oh, wait, that was a hand waving at him. Walking towards it, he saw that Setsuna was not leading him anywhere as he got closer. So he decided to entwine his fingers with the separated hand’s. The future King grinned a little as it froze before starting to tug him along the hallway. In short order, his gaze fell on a set of double doors that were slightly ajar. Entering them, he closed them without thinking before turning to see where his hand was being pulled towards. And froze himself.

After all, Setsuna was reclining on her bed in a set of lingerie that looked quite nice. Takehiko didn’t know that it was called a babydoll lingerie set yet, all he knew was that it gave Setsuna’s already beautiful form a different way to show off. The deep purple fabric cascaded down her torso, falling open quickly and showing off her strong legs easily, with a nearly black panty covering her, the top of it accented with a bit of the same frills that went over her bra cups, drawing his gaze both to the little white bow in the center of her chest and the line that denoted her cleavage. “Gonna stay standing there, or can I have my hand back?”

Even if she did make light of it, Takehiko was jolted from his haze and brought his eyes up to Setsuna’s face. Despite the light grin she had, her cheeks were quite red and he could see those forest-green eyes were searching for something. As he began walking towards her after taking off his shoes, it seemed she’d found it in his amber orbs. The new recommended college student held her arms out to him, and he figured it was a stroke of luck that Takehiko was holding the hand that connected to her stump with the opposite number. Either way, he grinned in return as Setsuna tangled her free hand in his hair. “Now I need to reward you for a bit more than just being a pretty good friend. My hero~”

Takehiko almost said something in return. Then her lips were on his and he had no want to say no to this.

  
  


Takehiko stood in front of Chaldea’s Japanese branch, grinning to himself. It took way too long to get here by train, but he’d handle it. It would be much easier when he had a motorcycle. For now, he stepped toward the building to take part in the exam that would change his life.


	5. Chaldea Entrance Exams

The Chaldea Institute for Heroics stood tall, a building that had multiple floors above ground and below to facilitate teaching all sorts of individuals in many simulated areas as well as normal classrooms and gyms. The choice for living in the dormitory on campus was given to two sets of students: Those who came from afar without proper living funds or somehow used up that money and those who needed closer watch for their studying. Once your grade point average went above a certain number, you’d be watched for another week for any dips in numbers before being kicked out to return home. While the first situation was one advertised around, Takehiko didn’t know the second was possible yet. After all, he was now crossing the threshold for the first time.

The first Kamen Rider trained by Tsukasa Kadoya himself walked through the doors, backpack just barely fitted over his thick coat. While it wasn’t an especially cold morning, he was prepared for the trek home in the evening where it would be much worse. For now though, the future King contented himself by humming Pop-Step’s last song before her disappearance a few years ago. What had ever happened to her? Maybe he’d look her up later.

For now, Takehiko followed the path he’d been told to take after signing in and proving he was indeed sent here by recommendation from an actual Pro Hero (though there were a lot of names he’d seen that were probably principals from schools). The young man looked at the piece of paper then up to the sign. Time to get dressed for exercise. Glancing around, he hummed in thought. The men’s locker room was filled with he was guessing more Emitter and Transformation Quirks than Mutants because while there were two guys that stood taller than the lockers, there were also other people with bodies quite different from the norm. He wondered what it would be like to have classes with them. Bringing his head back to the now, Takehiko slipped into his workout tracksuit and closed the locker before tapping his thumb to the scanner. His things kept safe now, he turned to head out.

Entering the room his slip of paper said was his first exam space, Takehiko took a number from the ticker just through the door. “Huh. Seems I’m one of the last ones in here.” Glancing around, he moved to his designated seat on the bench. While he had heard others say he should have stayed in his normal clothes for the paper portion, Takehiko’s rebuke was a simple one. “Why waste time doing that when the lockers were the first place they sent us?”

Tsukasa’s lessons were very effective. He might not say that to the guy’s face, but it was true. He had the bruises to prove it...

As he waited for the test to start, Takehiko glanced to his right as a young woman sat next to him. Holding up a hand, he smiled at the pale blonde. “Hello. Takehiko Tamashiro, at your service.”

The eyes turned to him are a paler yellow than his own amber orbs. As they locked each other’s gaze for a few seconds, she glanced down before clasping his hand in her own small and soft one. “Artoria Pendragon.” He felt like that should be familiar, but she turned back to the front before he could ask. “I’ll take you up on that service later.”

Takehiko blinked as he brought his hand back. That wasn’t an answer he’d ever received. He glanced up, feeling a bit of amusement at finally meeting someone with a proper ahoge instead of just seeing some hair not quite combed down. His own attention moved to the front as the door slammed closed, drawing most people’s eyes to the front. A few others kept talking among themselves even as the professor upfront got their papers all set. “If you don’t stop talking in the next five seconds, you’re out.”

That shut up everyone quite quickly. The man wearing a black cloak looked up, his skull mask gleaming a little in the classroom’s light. “Good. You can follow vocal orders. Now get better at following situational ones, but a door slamming closed is not something you ignore without consequence no matter where you are.” He held up a single sheet of paper. “I have here all your test papers. Examinee two-six-nine-oh, please distribute them to everyone in the room now.” Looking at his suddenly empty hand and podium, the man with skin seemingly the color of tar nodded to himself. “Thank you. That saved quite a bit of time.”

Artoria glanced at Takehiko, raising an eyebrow quizzically. He’d gone from calmly sitting next to her to jolting in surprise, and now he was panting lightly. What brought that about?

Takehiko himself was fighting to not give way onto the paper in front of him. Fainting at the professor’s order was not good. He’d be stopping by a water fountain on his way to the physical portion of the exams. For now, he took in a long breath before focusing on what the examinees were being told. It was a fairly basic speech about not cheating, and Takehiko almost nodded off to the man’s droning voice before he got to work at filling out the paper before him with everyone else. The future King found some of these questions pretty easy to answer, though there were a few that stumped him for a few seconds. And then one of the last questions was a landmine for him. It asked an innocuous question that he had way more to say than the box allowed. So the young man just focused on getting his goal for after he graduated from Chaldea down in as succinctly a manner as he could. It ate up more time than he’d expected to try and do that, but Takehiko managed it after some trial and error. After that, he waited with the others who had finished early. But he’d noticed that Artoria had finished much quicker than him and was curious what she put down.

Once the paper exam was done, Takehiko brought his slip of paper out again. “Room three-one-five. Alright, which way do I go for that?” As he started to stand up, he turned his head to look at the girl who’d given his tracksuit a tug at the sleeve. “Going the same way?”

Artoria nodded, looking just as ready considering she was wearing a jersey and bike shorts, though the stockings looked a little out of place as they went down to her exercise shoes. “I’ll go with you.”

He nodded back. Though the young man was surprised that she didn’t let go up until they were in the hallway. In there, Artoria just walked next to him. And it was quite the height difference between them, seeing as he was a good twenty centimeters over the blonde. Takehiko was a little surprised by that, now that he was walking alongside her. But he knew it wouldn’t be very nice to ask his golden-eyed companion what she did to stay so short even in college. Instead, he asked her what she’d be using in the practical. His own equipment was in his pockets, able to shrink down thanks to Sento being a genius. Artoria pat her side. “I’ve got a sword in here. Necrocalibur will see me through the exams.”

That name threw him for a loop. “Necrocalibur? Why is it called that?”

She gave a small smile. “Because my mother already wields Excalibur, and my sister took Clarent. So I had this made.” Artoria didn’t pull the sword out, and he doubted it was anything real solid. Still, Takehiko was curious what it looked like. Hopefully he’d get to see it in action soon. “It took a bit to get used to the weight difference. A real sword is a lot heavier.”

Knowing that feeling, he nodded. There had been quite the switch from wood to the Zikan Girade. Sure, he’d been taught the basics but relearning them with a completely different weapon was not fun. Especially when the center of gravity on it was completely changed from what he knew. “Oh, there’s us.”

Entering the room, the pair find they weren’t the first to arrive. Rather, a trio of girls with purple hair, two in very long pigtails that were both a similar height as Artoria while the third had a high ponytail and glasses closer to his own height, were standing away from a young man with the beginnings of a beard along his jaw, standing a little taller than the future King. Takehiko rose an eyebrow at seeing the way they stood. The girls were very unappreciative of the other guy’s gaze. “Oi.” That brought all attention to the pair that was walking into the bare simulator. “Would you stop looking at them like they’re meat and you’re a dog? I’m pretty sure not even citizens would appreciate that.”

The young man gave a double-take at that. “What?! I’m not looking at them like they’re meat! Do you not see what they’re wearing? Even if they’re just normal outfits, these gals wear them so nicely…”

“There’s a difference between appreciation and perving. Please learn it.” Artoria frowned as the man’s eyes turned to her, and then her legs. “Stop that.”

While they were talking, the six examinees were joined by two more people. Young men both, they seemed to be rather against taking a test in the same area as the others. Takehiko wondered for a second what this dark-skinned man and the pale one with really bright hair thought of each other before the doors closed. An intercom system started up. “That’s everyone in here. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to exam room three-one-five.” The scruffy young man with a weird looking hook on his hand looked to the window faster than everyone else on hearing the woman who’d be overseeing them. “Today, we’ll be running you through a simulated exercise in this holographic space. You may team up if you want, but you are being scored individually as well.”

That gave the pair of boys who’d entered last some measure of relief. No need to subject himself to the moron next to him longer than necessary. “The exercise is simple. Save the citizens from the villains. Defend them until time runs out.”

Takehiko nodded at that. Reaching into his pockets, he flicks the Zikuu Driver to its active mode while also getting the Zi-O Ridewatch ready. Artoria reached up for her zipper, glanced at the scruffy man and thought better of it. She reached under her jersey to grab the sword hilt that formed the basis of her combat style. The purplette triplets had no weapon, a small bow, and a pair of giant nails on a long chain for their own methods of fighting. As Takehiko attached the Driver to his waist, the pale man gave his spear a spin as he walked away into the growing holographic city. The dark-skinned one kept a firm hold on his bow as he went a different way.

The scruffy man and his hook attached to the middle of his hand looked at the girls, entirely ignoring Takehiko. “Why don’t we all team up, ladies? I bet we could save plenty of people between us~”

The purplette with empty hands gave a harrumph at that. “You can settle for saving people on your own. I and my sister will be doing fine without any help from  _ you _ .” The small bow holder nodded at that while the triplet with the nails looked at Takehiko and Artoria. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

As the two who looked most alike left, the last one lingered a moment before moving to catch up. Amber eyes watched them for a moment before looking down at pale gold orbs. “Come on, we should find some people to help too.”

Artoria nodded, and kept the empty hilt in hand as she walked with Takehiko. The scruffy man looked between where everyone went, and gave a few exaggerated movements before sighing and running off. He was here to be a Pro Hero too! This would be nothing for him!

In the control booth, a redhead in a white battle dress, her shield and sword currently sitting on her waist, watched the teens go on their own ways through the massive hologram going on. What they didn’t know was that the buildings were actually there in various forms. Villains in here were robots, equipped with a trio of armaments for levels of difficulty. “Which ones do you think will get through this exam, Edmond?”

Standing next to her with part of his costume off, just like she was missing the detachable red cape and garland, the man standing a few centimeters taller crossed his arms. “Hard to say. While the Kamen Rider should manage his own points, working as a team makes other parts of this more challenging.” He taps a few buttons to bring up another view, this one centered on the triplets. The two with pigtails were apparently teasing their third sister. And she did not look to be enjoying the words sent her way. “And that’s if your teamwork exists in the first place.”

The Frenchman was unsurprised to see the ponytailed purplette running away, one arm up to brush away tears most likely. While one of the pigtails wanted to chase after, the other held her back. “But these children will be the ones to carry the torch into the future. We must judge them accordingly, even if it means to shatter them for a moment.”

The redhead nodded, turning her blue eyes to the other examinees. While they’d be able to see everything they did after, it would be best to see if anyone was having a hard time or not early. And at the moment, when only villain robots roamed without any civilian holograms around, that would be a surprise. Though it seemed the bowman was looking for a place high up to perch. Which would be to his detriment if he went through with it for the whole exercise. Meanwhile, the spearman was slicing through robots like they were jelly. But he didn’t seem to be looking for civilians to save. How would that pan out for him?

Edmond looked at the only Englishman on screen. It was going to be hard to keep him around with an attitude like that. Hopefully they could beat it out of him without any major consequences coming their way. But if the guy let his impulses control him to such an extent… Well, he was an Underground Hero. Such actions weren’t meant to see the light of day. Under cloak of night, he’d exact retribution. But for now, he’d do as he always did while the sun was up and he wasn’t fighting. He’d wait, and hope.

Kamen Rider Zi-O held up a bit of rubble, grunting with the effort as he watched Artoria cut through the bits keeping the holographic civilian pinned. He wanted to use his Quirk to grab the hologram, but that wasn’t possible right now. Even if it was made out of light, the hologram was unmovable during stopped time. Unlike a real person, there wasn’t anything substantial enough for him to grasp. Tossing away the rubble now that it was safe to do so, he reached a hand up to his head… right, mask was on. No sweat wiping right now. He’d have to ask Sento about that because during training was one thing but Takehiko didn’t want to chance missing anything right now by taking off his armor. His visor was just too useful.

After taking the hologram to the group that they were keeping safe, currently just five civilians including the one they just saved, Zi-O looked to his partner. Artoria nodded back, smiling before looking around. Her Quirk was entirely combat related, and also nearly made him shiver in fear. Was he just drawn to people with electrical Quirks or something? “That building there should suffice for holing up.”

Looking where she pointed her sword, he nodded. “Alright. Come on, you all! We’ve got somewhere to be.” He didn’t know how long it would be until time was up, but they’d been at this for two hours already. As Zi-O directed the holograms to safety, he kept an eye open for any villain robots coming around. Meanwhile, Artoria was heading forward to the store chosen and would be clearing it out of anything that was hiding. Considering he saw her swinging Necrocalibur in the store a few times, plus her red lightning, it seemed that was a good idea. As they entered, he calmed down the holograms about the robot husks before them. “They aren’t getting back up. Even if they are whole, they’ve been overloaded with electricity. Nothing will be getting them back up.”

After taking a few minutes to get situated, Zi-O rubbed his mask. “Alright, which way now… hm?” He leaned out of the door. Oh, he did see that right. “Artoria-san, can you keep these guys safe on your own for a bit? I saw something I need to grab.”

The blonde blinked at that, but nodded. “Sure. But if I get overwhelmed while you’re gone, I’ll blame you for any creampies I get forced to take.”

Takehiko stumbled at that. Honestly, this girl! How could she joke about things like that so often?! Shaking his head as he regained his balance, Zi-O started to run after what he’d seen. Glancing around, he didn’t know where… Footprints. That was a major help. Following them and the path on his HUD, Zi-O moved through a few different alleys. But it was the sounds of fighting that made him speed up. A few seconds later, he saw what he’d expected. The purplette with a ponytail was fighting a trio of villain robots with a 3 emblazoned on their chassis, one arm equipped with an axe-hammer and the other a submachine gun that shot rubber bullets. But the guns had been disabled already by those nails, which made protecting the civilian holograms much easier.

But with the  **“ZIKAN GIRADE! KEN!”** in hand, the purplette turned her light purple eyes on the Rider that took down the villains. “Hey. Come on, you all can hang out in a store I found not far from here.” Even as the civilians started to leave, the other examinee was standing still, panting hard with her nails on the ground and her knees in hand. “...that includes you, you kn--”

“Why?” He blinked at her question. She had a nice voice. “Why are you helping me? We’re being scored individually, so there’s not much poi--”

“What does that matter to a Hero?” The girl was brought up short at that. “Now come on. You look like you need a rest more than I do.”

Looking at the glove he held out toward her, the girl thought about what she should do. What would her sisters do… Probably ignore his help. Figure out a way to keep those civilians safe on their own.

She reached out and grasped his hand. “Thank you.”

At the three hour mark, a buzzer rang out. Takehiko, out of his armor, looked up at the ceiling. “Time is up! Please come outside of any buildings you’re in, they’ll be returning to the floor shortly.” What that meant was made apparently quickly, as the hologram that made this all appear as a town in the middle of the day fizzled out. The room had projectors coming out of nearly every surface, covering almost any angle a person could look at it from. As Takehiko, Artoria and the girl who said her name was Medusa exited the building, they saw that the holographic civilians had also disappeared. So now they were left in a room constructed entirely out of some white material that looked like painted metal but he had no idea if that was the case. Either way, the building-sized pillars started to lower into the floor with a whirring of gears but that was all they heard. The trio stood still, taking in the change from cityscape-shaped area to a giant simulator room that had only the eight people in it. “Thank you. You’ll have your results sent in a few days at least. Have a good evening.”

Takehiko huffed at the man’s blunt way of dismissing them. Still, at least they could go now. “I’m in locker room six. What about you two?” Artoria replied she was in three while Medusa was in five. “So we are going the same way, just splitting up differently. Unless you want to stick with your sisters?”

The other two members of the triplets were walking towards the trio while the other men were all heading out for their lockers without so much as a bye to the others. Medusa looked at the other purplettes then turned her gaze back on Takehiko. “Let’s go.”

Edmond tilted his head away from the hand that would have slapped the back of his skull otherwise. Turning his yellow gaze on the redhead, he couldn’t help a little smirk at her pout. “They would have left anyway. You don’t have to say goodbye to all of them personally every year.”

The woman crossed her arms over her bust. “Heartless man. What do you have against fun?”

He chuckled at that. “There are many ways to have fun, Boudicca. I just don’t agree with that one of yours.” Edmond turned to his coat as it started to buzz. Picking his phone from a pocket, his features softened quite a bit. The woman in a battle dress turned back to the examinees as he began to talk. “Hello Albert, how’re you doing?”

For all that this group had done remarkably well by themselves, Boudicca was surprised that a Kamen Rider had shown up. Not just that, a Kamen Rider had teamed up with other people willingly! They were both young women, sure, but the blue-eyed woman wanted to hope that was something he’d have done if someone besides that scruffy pirate had been spotted. Being a team player, and maker, was very useful when a Pro Hero was out and about in the real world. It seemed to be something this one wouldn’t need extensive lessons in which was quite nice. Hopefully others didn’t take quite so long in learning that. It got more than a few people injured, or worse…

Getting her cape and garland on, Boudicca began to walk out of the control room. Here, it was not Boudicca that moved along the hallway while Edmond talked to his son back in France. Victory Queen was moving towards the main teacher’s office to see if anything else needed doing today.

Takehiko stood outside his locker room, having showered and dried off ten minutes ago. He was currently texting his mom, his cousin, his friend, and… what was Setsuna? They hadn’t gone all the way that night but considering how far they DID go, maybe he should ask about that when she was free. At least there was another month before school started up. Time enough to figure his situation out and learn if he should expect something like Itsuka with her.

At the thought of his orangette former friend, the future King took in a breath through his nose and let it out slowly. Well, at least he was able to think of her at all now. How long would it still sting, he wondered? Closing his eyes in thought, he thought of the times they’d just sit around and watch something, or play some games at her place. Heck, there was one time where they’d sat on her bed and he was reading a book and just playing with her hair with his free hand. For as much fun as they had without clothes, maybe he should stop reminiscing on a girl that thought their going to different colleges meant they had to stop seeing each other even as friends…

His thoughts were interrupted by a hand snapping in front of his face. “Mister Tamashiro? Are you alright?” Medusa was standing in front of him, and at a glance it seemed Artoria wasn’t out yet. “You didn’t answer me when I called your name.”

Takehiko nodded. “I’m alright. Just got a little deeper in my head than I expected. Looking forward to hearing how you did?” The now-glasses-wearing purplette moved to stand out of sight of the locker room her sisters went to, just behind him. They’d see her on the way out but she probably already knew that. “I’m already wondering if I can make it to Todai’s exams tomorrow.”

Medusa gave a curious noise at that. “Todai? That’s the real prestigious place that’s been standing longer than U.A., right?” Nodding to the slightly shorter woman, Takehiko talked with her about his plans for life beyond being a Kamen Rider (which was still new enough he had to backtrack and remind himself he wasn’t just a high-school graduate sometimes). The pair talked a bit about how Medusa used the nails currently in her tote bag before she glanced away from his amber eyes and then shrunk back into the wall. That made him blink and look to see what she’d seen. “Wait, no, don’t!”

The other purplettes she’d come in with were exiting their locker room and were leaving the building now. It was easy to see their other sister given she had a hair color and form that stood out starkly even before the thick black turtleneck drew further attention to her curved body. Whereas the other two… Honestly, Takehiko wasn’t sure why they would be her sisters because not only was Medusa tall and had a form more akin to ‘sexy’, looking at the two smug girls on their way over made him think cute instead. “Found someone to hang out with? And here I thought you would just hang out by yourself for four years, little sister.”

Takehiko blinked at that. His brain’s question didn’t reach the filter before coming out. “Little sister? But she’s taller than both of you.”

The pigtailed girls turned their purple gaze to him. One raised an eyebrow while the other seemed amused. “Indeed she is. And also more well-endowed if you haven’t noticed.” The other that hadn’t spoken giggled into her hand even though Takehiko didn’t speak. “But I will have my own fans when my debut comes.”

The giggler nodded at that. “Indeed I will.”

The amber-eyed young man looked at them both before snapping his fingers. “You’re using that ‘twinspeak’ thing to throw people off. Just weirder than it already is. Why do that?” They both jolted at that. Medusa also seemed surprised. “What, has no one ever asked you about it before?”

Takehiko looked between them before Medusa shook her head. “No, not really. They just rolled with it while we were growing up.”

He chuckled at that. “It makes the other people around you very silly, I think.”

Euryale and Stheno look at each other, surprised that someone would actually respond to their habit like this. After all, everyone else just went along with it. They might ask why they used singular pronouns when talking about the two of them, but the identical sisters of the triplets tended to tease about that. But this boy… “Are you trying to fluster me? That won’t work, you know.”

Medusa tried to tell Takehiko that it would be fine if they stopped here. But while he heard a locker room door close, the young man hummed. “I’m an inquisitive guy. You three are interesting. Is it so wrong to try and learn more about people that interest me?”

He glanced down at the short blonde that leaned into his arm. “Am I not interesting, Takehiko-san?”

“You are, Artoria-san. But I wasn’t trying to learn your verbal tics just now.” Takehiko turned his eyes to the shorter purplettes again. “And I’m waiting for an answer.”

They looked at each other before giving synchronized ‘hmph!’s at him and moving passed the trio of people taller than them. Medusa opened her mouth, confused and wanting her sisters to stay but also… “I’ve never seen that happen before. They’ve never just…  _ left _ in the middle of a conversation before!”

Takehiko let out a huff through his nose, lightly twisting his arm. “Quite rude of them, that was.” As Artoria made some quiet sounds of appreciation, he looked to Medusa. “If you want, I can walk you home? My schedule is pretty open today.”

Medusa opened her mouth to answer before realizing what the blonde was enjoying. Her shirt wasn’t very thick it seemed, allowing her to enjoy the young man’s arm rubbing the inside of her cleavage, covered up though it was. The purplette blushed at the sight. After all, even though his arm was only rubbing a place not many would consider sensitive, she was quite open with her feelings about it. “Wh-what are you doing?!”

Takehiko sucked on his lip for a second at that question. “Well, from how she’s talked earlier, I thought maybe something like this would be alright. And I really wasn’t expecting… this.” He’d looked down to Artoria, honestly somewhat surprised the girl had mams that big on her small frame. What did she eat to look like that but be so short? And he could feel her solid core as well. “Definitely more than I’d thought would happen.”

Artoria… struck him like a cat that was getting the scritches she desired. Except it was his arm in between her breasts and who knew just how aroused she really was from this. Pulling his arm away, she had a slightly delayed response. But once the blonde noticed, she lightly pouted up at him with gold eyes narrowed. Medusa, meanwhile, moved to pull her away from him. She looked a little betrayed, though why he couldn’t quite tell. As amber met purple, she struggled to keep her glasses-covered gaze on him. “You can’t just do-do things like that! Especially in public!”

She stiffened up as Artoria leaned her head against the taller girl’s chest. “Why not? If you can’t meet up quickly, is it so bad to want to enjoy what time you can together?” She nearly fell as Medusa took a couple steps away, pulling her light-blue jacket tight over her chest. The blonde blinked in confusion. “I didn’t say anything weird, did I…”


	6. Friends and Rivals

Trudging down a street with a scowl on his face, Katsuki Bakugo felt a little irked. After all, that stupid Deku had been at the U.A.U. entrance exam a few days ago. And he was still mad that he’d spent more time than he wanted next to the nerd. What did that stupid Quirkless think would happen in the heroics course exam, flowers and butterflies? Even still, he managed to get fourth place in the whole damn test! Right behind Katsuki himself, his 79 Villain Points nearly made immaterial by the 50 Hero Points added to Deku’s fucking 28 Villain Points. And then there were those two who got only half his real score but got enough Hero Points to get better scores than him. And where the hell did U.A.U. get off scoring a combat situation on rescuing extras?! That shit made no sense!

Kicking a littered can, the red-eyed blonde growled to himself before looking up. What the… “Deku? And who’s that extra with him?” He rose an eyebrow at the pair. From where he stood, the taller guy (and there was something else that irked him, but now about this extra instead of Deku) had short black hair and a jersey that had the weirdest colors. Who mixed black and pink and silver? “Guess I gotta put that loser in his place.”

Stomping closer, he made sure the area was clear. Huh, nice beach. Might come down here for a swim or something if the old hag got too much. Well, Deku and his loser friend were on the sand. “Oi, Deku!” Yeah, that was the proper reaction to his voice! Katsuki grinned as he slipped a hand out of his pocket, popping some bits of sweat on his palm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing,” his grin turned into a scowl, “almost beating  **ME** in the entrance exam?!”

Green and yellow turned to look at him. “K-K-Ka-Kacchan! What brings you he-ere?”

Yellow-eyes glanced at Deku before crossing his arms. “I imagine you’re not calling him ‘mom’, so you must be that Bakugo-san I’ve heard about. You… really don’t live up to the hype.”

That got his eyebrow twitching. “Excuse you? I AM THE HYPE!” Both hands were out now as he took an aggressive stance. This extra thought he was better just because he had some centimeters on him?! “You’d better check yourself, Puke Eyes. You ain’t better than me, hell you don’t look better than Deku! Least he has some interestin’ hair from his mom.”

Puke Eyes glanced at Deku a little longer this time, eyebrow raised. What the hell were those looks about? Deku obviously talked about him to this loser but beyond that he couldn’t tell what was going on. But when those yellow eyes were on him again, Katsuki felt like exploding them. “You’re right on that last point. The rest doesn’t sound very true though.”

Deku tried to talk Puke Eyes down. But Katsuki wasn’t having it anymore. Thrusting his hands back, he glassed some of the beach as Katsuki exploded into action. It wasn’t very far, but he had more than enough range to ready his right arm for his instinctive opening attack. “DIE!”

...when the fuck did Puke Eyes move?! He hadn’t even blinked and the guy’s foot was in his stomach! Trajectory suddenly and violently changed, Katsuki rolled on the sand before coming up to his feet. Snarling, he looked at the guy who thought he was his better. “Bastard…”

“My parents were happily married, actually. I’ll thank you to remember that.” TelePuke was going down! Launching with another explosion, Katsuki went flying again, and used an explosion in midair to change where he would be. See if he could block his ARM! AUGH! When the fuck did he get on the sand?! “I’m pretty sure using your Quirk like this is illegal. But since you’re Midoriya-san’s childhood friend, I’ll let it slide this one meeting.”

Looking very scared for the extra that just signed a death warrant, Deku tried to talk Katsuki down from blowing up any more. And while he certainly did try, TelePuke moved off of him before he could do more than start heating up his hand. Standing up, red eyes glared at Deku who squeaked before shutting up. TelePuke looked at him with…  _ disdain? _ **FOR HIM?!** Oh, this guy would be getting turned to ash later… “Just because you met an extra that can teleport doesn’t mean you’re worth anything, cheater.”

That got Deku’s attention. “Wha--cheater? Why are yo--”

“How else would you have gotten anywhere close to my score?! The fuck are Hero Points anyway!” Katsuki growled out, his stance still aggressive but not as combative as before. “You musta cheated somehow…”

TelePuke hummed at that. “If that was the case, U.A.U. must not be as good as you two think.” Katsuki shouted at him to go to hell while Deku just shook his head. “Then if U.A. is still one of the best Hero colleges in Japan, how would Midoriya-san here be able to hack into it? That isn’t among his skill set.”

Katsuki growled again. This fucker… “Kac-cchan, Hero Points are how they scored examinees for saving people, or helping other examinees out of a tight spot. So uhm, you… probably just didn’t help anyone, even by accident…” His red eyes on Deku made the stuttery shit stiffen but he didn’t stop. “But I went out of my way to help people, even if I did get a few robots here and there too.”

That got his blood boiling. Deku wasn’t even aiming for the top spot? “You… goddamned Deku… You nearly win, and you say you weren’t aiming for that?!”

“No. I wasn’t.” Talking back? And so confidently? Where did he get the balls?! “I was going through with  _ my _ philosophy on Heroism. Saving people is the best thing you can do.”

Katsuki let out a shout of surprise and laughter. “You idiot! All Might isn’t the Number One Hero because he saves people, it’s because he wins! He defeats every villain in his path and he wins! THAT is what Heroism is about!”

Deku shook his head, hair waving with the motion. “Kacchan, that isn’t being a Hero! Not even a Pro Hero!” That got him to blink in surprise. What was the difference? “Being a winner doesn’t mean anything if you aren’t making people feel safe at the same time! What will you do if everyone you’re trying to save runs away from you because you’re not giving them hope?”

Takehiko smiled at Izuki. That was a good question. He turned to look at Bakugo, and wasn't surprised to see he was grinding his teeth a bit. But the training partners were surprised when the blond turned around, starting to stomp his way off the beach. He was growling and grumbling, but wasn’t saying anything back to them directly. The pair watched him go quietly. It wasn’t until the spiky-haired boy was gone from sight that they looked at each other. “Is that normal for him?”

Izuki shook her head. “No. That’s… really weird for Kacchan. I’ve never seen him like that before.” She frowned a bit before turning back to her training partner. “So, like I was saying… The microwave gave me an idea! I usually try to just get my power into my limbs one at a time, but trying to split it up even in small amounts doesn’t work well.” She held out her arms excitedly. “But maybe I was thinking about this all wrong! I only got it when I was starting high school, so I only figured yesterday to try something new. Instead of splitting it up, maybe I should just have it flow through my whole body! I’m gonna start small, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try.” The greenette pulled her arms back in, poking her fingers together nervously. “But um, I didn’t want to just do it on my own in case something happened. So…”

He chuckled a little. “So you called me to watch and be on standby. Smart. Alright, I’ll get my phone ready.”

As the young man pulled his phone from his pocket, Izuki shifted her weight back and forth in thought. The choices she realized weren’t entirely her own thoughts a few days ago hadn’t gone through her head any so far. Which was nice, because the urges to send him risque photos after a shower or something were quite strong. Izuki had managed to curb them easy enough, but still. Hopefully she’d get through this mess without needing to ask CR for any help. Part of her knew that asking for help on something like this was supposed to be fine, but it was still embarrassing. Her thinking on her situation finished, the green-eyed girl looked to Takehiko as he nodded to her. Smiling back, Izuki turned to the sea and took up a horse stance. Focusing on that bright flame that had taken up residence in her body years ago, her hands tightened on finding it. But now, instead of just getting one limb filled with the power, she spread it from her core and on out.

Takehiko’s eyes widened as he stepped back. Holy crap, since when did calling on power make green lightning appear all over your body?! His angle didn’t let him see the purple veins that flowed over Izuki’s body, seemingly at random and culminating in a pair of arrows on her forehead. Her green eyes glowed bright and her hair waved a little not in the wind but with power. The girl took a few seconds to get accustomed before she could start moving even a little bit. There were a few joints she’d never flowed One for All through before that were now getting a taste of what all she could do. Slowly, she took a step forward. Her arm came into a ready position. More normally, her other leg moved forward. And with a kiai, Izuki punched forward. Her elbow on down became visible from the force of the punch, along with a slim strip of sand under the water for a good… would it be half a kilometer on the low or high end? He wasn’t quite sure.

Either way, Izuki stood in her pose for a few more seconds, just breathing before letting the power drop. Turning to Takehiko, she grinned widely, letting out some laughter at managing to do it. Running up, she gives him a strong high-five. The amber-eyed young man shook out his hand some. “I did it! And I can still use everything!” She giggled happily, catching herself quickly. “Should I rename how I use it…?”

“Why?” The time manipulator placed a hand on his hip, looking down at the girl with super strength. “No one has heard about you or your power before. I think you’ll be alright for now. But once you’re at U.A.U., that is when attack names are going to be important.”

Izuki kicked a bit of sand away. “...I was thinking of calling them Smashes, actually. All Might is my t--my inspiration, after all. And he mostly stuck to names from the United States, so I’ve got some wiggle room.”

Takehiko chuckled a bit as she looked up from her feet. “That’s true enough. That one you may want to research some.” He was not expecting Izuki to agree and start telling him just how deeply the hole she’d gone in looking up info for her special attack names. After calming down the disguised girl, he shook his head a little. “Man, you’ve definitely been at it, Midoriya-san! At least my own attacks are pretty easy to name. Just got another variation to add on the Rider Kick and Punch and Slash and Shooting numbers.”

Izuki nodded at that. Now she just had to ask if he’d

  1. Go on a date with her
  2. Spar a little
  3. Watch the sunset with her
  4. Take her home



Damn this Virus! Nothing all day and then this… “Do you want to spar for a little? I need to get used to this, and I learn my Quirk better with a partner than by myself.”

Shaking out his arms and getting into his own ready pose, the young man in a black, pink and silver tracksuit nodded. “I could use the practice with fighting a superpowered opponent.” She grinned a little bit at him before the pair started to spar. Gradually, Izuki broke out the power flowing through her body. Unlike earlier, she didn’t want to hurt Takehiko so her attacks came out a little weaker than the ability to open up a long if thin trench in the water. Most of the sand being kicked around was from her own movements. Speaking of kicks though, he noticed she wasn’t using any. Meanwhile, his own style was a more balanced mix of punches and kicks, though the future King knew he had to work in grappling at some point. But for now, Takehiko sees how much Izuki would copy him if he started to throw some attacks at her legs. Spinning around a punch, the looseness of the sand allowed him to fluidly go down into a sweeping kick. As the greenette hopped, he swung that same leg up at her. The girl rolled for a bit after that connected, springing back to her feet in a second. The amber-eyed Rider switched to entirely kicks for a bit, and saw that for all Izuki managed to defend well, she was not doing as he’d hoped. Still just punches after moving around. “Why aren’t you using everything in your arsenal?”

That caused her to pause for a second. “Everything in… what?”

He lifted up a leg, swinging it back and forth like a pendulum for a moment. “You’re not using your legs. I know you aren’t the most adept with them, but technique can come later. Just start using them some.” Takehiko grinned. “With your strength, I imagine it’d be pretty debilitating to do that to a Villain.”

Izuki looked at her legs. Hm. Even in the entrance exam, she hadn’t really used her legs for more than transport, but it was true that on average the human body had stronger muscles down there than in the arms. The legs were what carried every other part of the body, after all. Turning back to the sea, she took up a ready stance. Takehiko watched as she tried what looked like a textbook roundhouse kick… and immediately went down with a groan of pain. Damn his mind but that sounded amazing to his ears. For now, he moved to check on her. “I’m okay, I’ll be okay. Just… wow. That felt weird.”

Looking at the man who used kicks as finishing moves more often than not, Izuki opened her mout

  1. Can you teach me?
  2. Have any tips?
  3. Will you help me feel better?
  4. It seems I can’t move. Wanna do it h



h to ask for… damn Virus… “Can you teach me a little about kicking, Tama...Takehiko-kun?”

The future King blinked at her, and nodded. He was fine with that change in address. “Sure. Anything specific in mind first? I know a few things that’ll help.” He helped the future greatest Pro Heroine with some exercises to keep herself limber and able to move not just for getting around but for kicking as well. After all, the guys that made finishing Villains off specifically with kicks, and with very particular kick choices at that, knew well what they were talking about. Takehiko was new but he’d had that beaten into him first thing. “Literally. Tsukasa-sensei is probably more hands-on with his lessons than any teacher I’ll have at Chaldea.”

Izuki laughed a little bit at that. “I see! Well, uhm, do you… want to grab some ice cream or something before we head home? It’ll be awhile before dinner for me, and I haven’t had any since graduation.”

That got him very surprised. No ice cream, at all? But that was weeks ago! Almost two months now. Takehiko may not have ice cream very often himself, but once every two weeks at minimum was much more frequent comparatively. The two shared stories and favorite flavors as they walked to the shop. As they went, two pairs of eyes locked onto them. One was frozen in shock, surprised and not sure if they should approach. The other had no such compunctions and subtly used their Quirk to move through the cars parked on the road. “And then when I turned around, she decided that the best way to surprise me waAUGH!”

A pair of hands were over his eyes! “To do this!” And there was the owner of these offending fingers. While Izuki started to stammer a little, looking back and forth between them, the hands came down, attached to their arms this time it seemed. Takehiko was able to see the pink cheeks of the disguised girl while the one behind him pressed her chest up against his back. “Hey there, Takehiko. What’re you doin’ out here? Dagobah is pretty out of the way from where I normally see you.”

He smiled. “Hello, Setsuna. This is my friend, Midoriya-san. He and I were training a little today. We were on our way to grab some ice cream.” Takehiko turned to Izuki--ku. It took a couple seconds before the green eyes--wait, they both had green eyes. And hair. Uh...oh--the bright green eyes showed some understanding of what he was silently asking. The freckled one nodded. “Wanna join us?”

The young woman with a splitting Quirk grinned. “Sure! Been awhile since I had any ice cream. Either of you know a place nearby?” As the trio left to go get their frozen treats, Setsuna glanced around. Why did it feel like someone was watching her? More intently than normal, at least. She didn’t see anyone without turning her head, so hopefully whoever was behind her would be turned away by her hanging on to Takehiko while her legs walked next to him. As the gaze turned away, she leaned into his cheek. “I can definitely go for some good rocky road!”

As they left, blue eyes were filled with some tears. Not just one, but two girls with him? How? When? ...did she make the right call? He hadn’t said anything about going to a college to her. Surely her ex-boyfriend would’ve said something if he got into Todai, wouldn’t he? Takehiko wasn’t that heartless to just leave her in the lurch, he couldn't be. Even if she had been the one to say... Rubbing her eyes clear of tears for the moment, she continued on her trek to her family’s dojo. Some practice would help her think straight, surely.

Midoriya Izuki entered her home, heading straight to the bathroom to shower after greeting her mom and hearing the reply. Setting her tracksuit, and remembering to note that she’d need to buy a new one at some point, in the hamper of the small bathroom, she got to work on stripping further. Her thin workout shirt, her sports bra that was made for girls less endowed than her, the binder that kept her inside that sports bra whenever she went out, and her panties and socks. While a bath sounded nice, she settled for a shower. The cool water falling over her body was nice.

Bringing a hand up to her chest, Izuki frowned at the globes she inherited from her mom. If she’d had even her mother’s Quirk, she might have been happy to have these, or the hips that even with her training looked more like Uwabami or Mt. Lady’s than Mirko’s toned form. At least her rear didn’t extend too far. That would have ruined most of her efforts, even if some strangers had made not-so-subtle comments about her looking nice behind her back. If they were people she knew, that’d be one thing. Alas, no one had said anything nice to her face once they knew she was Quirkless.

And that was something that made finding part-time jobs during high school impossible. Her bully with the extendable eyes had gotten the opening at Mendy’s she’d applied for on the same day even though his Quirk didn’t do a thing to help him at the register. And she hadn’t even gotten an email about them not hiring her, she just hadn’t heard back from them after the in-person applying…

Izuki slapped her cheeks, the sound amplified some by them being wet. She didn’t need a part-time job now. She was going to U.A.U.! And All Might was teaching her how to be a better user of One for All, even if his instruction did leave some things to be desired… Though his inability to be a Hero anymore was something that threw Japan for a loop in her third year of high school. At least the other Pro Heroes were able to pick up the slack. There’d only been a few months of curfew thankfully, but it had been a hectic few months indeed. Yagi Toshinori was taking to the changed spotlight well, serving as a bit more of an advisor for people these days than using up his minutes of muscles for one crime, if that. Now if only he could spend more of that time teaching her about this inherited Quirk, that would be amazing.

Speaking of teaching, Takehiko’s help was quite nice. She hadn’t thought the young man would be willing, but he hadn’t said a thing against her for having a Quirk that could harm her if she twitched wrong while it was active. Really, he was a lot more open to her having a potentially self-harming Quirk than she’d expected. And for all he’d been able to pick up on her hiding her body instantly, he seemed pretty oblivious to some other things. Or maybe it was more than he was used to the things Tokage-san did? That made sense. They were calling each other only by name after all.

What would it be like, to have someone calling her by name only…

  1. Fantasize
  2. Rub one out
  3. Call him for a night-in



...for once, Izuki let herself give in. Leaning on the tiled wall, she let out a quiet moan as the greenette started to play with herself. “Takehiko…”

“Takkun~!” came the exultant cry before he found himself being barreled into from behind. Takehiko laughed a little, looking at Nejire from over his shoulder as he walked towards his bike. The bluenette hung onto him, her arms under his own. “Take me for a ride.”

“Anywhere in particular? I’m getting in some more practice so having a place to go would be nice.” Walking with his cousin latched on was easy, especially when she was using her Quirk to basically float along while he moved normally. Sitting on the Ridestriker, the unfolded form of what he called the Bikewatch, he took out a helmet and gloves for himself to wear, listening to her rapidfire requests before he handed Nejire her own set of headgear. “I don’t want to get pulled over for anything reckless, so please put this on.”

The young woman set the helmet over her blue hair, then took it off to move her locks out of the way. That done, Nejire was ready to get going, leaning against her taller, younger cousin. She grinned at feeling him tense just a little through her chest against his back. He gave the Ridestriker a few revs before rolling out into the street proper. The bluenette may have been pressed up against him with no real way to feel the wind, but this was a nice change of pace. Hmmm, maybe Takkun could take her back to her house and they could have some fun to cap off the night there? She hadn’t congratulated him for getting into Chaldea yet after all. Ooooohh or maybe she could do that in a restaurant! Seeing his reactions to her motions with… oh, but Nejire wasn’t that good with her feet. But they could practice at her place. And he hadn’t seen her parents again yet! That would be a nice chat. Maybe they could have a movie night and she’d see if Takkun was still so scared by horror as he used to be. Hopefully so, that would be hilarious and then she could comfort him after! He’d like resting his hand on her thighs, she figured. A lot of boys said that her thighs looked like great pillows, so surely the first man she’d been with would agree. The only person she’d let rest on her legs was Yuyu and that was just because her friend in design overworked herself so often. And the tables were not good places to nap, even if the piled up clothes made it seem like a bed. Would her bed survive Takkun’s thrusts? His own was probably on its last bit of endurance and she didn’t want to make Kazehime-baasan go too deep into her bank account because a bed’s support breaking might lead to the floor breaking and that would take a lot of time and money to fix and “Ne-chan, we’re here.”

Lifting her helmeted head from his back, Nejire peeked over Takehiko’s shoulder. “Tadaima~” His helmet turned to look at her she assumed in confusion, which made her snicker a little. “My parents are out right now. But they should get back by the time we’re done with the movie or game.”

Takehiko nodded, and hit a button on the Ridestriker’s front. The curious woman watched as it folded up into a Ridewatch, and before she could take it to open it up again to watch it unfold, he put it into his pocket and poked her nose. The resulting ‘Poob!’ made her giggle. “Come on. I need to get something to snack on after driving us all the way here. I was not expecting it to be over half an hour, that’s for sure.”

Unlocking the door for them, Nejire led the way in. He saw that the place hadn’t changed much since he was last here. A few more pictures that didn’t have him in them, but hopefully that’d change soon enough. He’d definitely be at her graduation in a couple years. Takehiko paused at one of the first pictures where he was in it with her. “Huh. I didn’t know we were together that long.”

Her sock-covered feet made rapid taps on the floor as she came over to see what he was talking about. “...oh yeah! You were just a tiny little butterball back then.” Nejire turned a pout up at his face. “And now I can’t even reach you without jumping!” Takehiko just laughed, and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “That just proves my point!”

The pair walked away from the photo of them sitting together, watching something on TV. The bald little Takehiko was sitting between Nejire’s legs, her hair short, and curly even then. His amber eyes were directed at the shiny screen while Nejire was waving his arms up and down. A simpler time for all of them, and years before they’d had thoughts about Kingship or anything related to it.

As they continued, Takehiko spied a picture from probably last summer, going by how well Nejire filled out the same bikini he’d seen on a commercial. ...man, his life was real empty besides Itsuka back then… The blond with enough muscles to pull off All Might Jr. as a Pro Hero name had a hand on her shoulder, standing to her right. The guy with spiky black hair who was not as overtly muscled but still strong looking was pulling a hover hand just above her hip. “Who’re these two?”

Hopping out of the kitchen and to her cousin again, Nejire looked at the picture he pointed to. “Oh! That’s Mirio and Tamaki, my friends! We’re part of this group called The Big Three, apparently we’re some of the best students in U.A.U. right now.” Lowering her hand from pointing at her own bust after saying ‘big’, her blue eyes looked at Takehiko. “Why ya askin’? Mirio’s got his eyes on someone else so you don’t need to be jealous of him besides in muscle size.”

He rose an eyebrow before turning amber eyes onto her. “And what about this Tamaki-san, Ne-chan?”

She shrugged. “He’s real shy. I don’t think he’s going to be dating many people for a bit cause of it. And if he has dated anyone, he’s never told us. I’m looking forward to hearing what his type is actually!” Nejire giggled. “Mirio is into this woman at his Internship called Bubble Girl and she’s cute I think you’d like her but you can’t try and take her from Mirio! He’s working hard on getting her to go out with him and you ruining that for him would be very uncool, Takkun.”

The future King laughed at that. “I’m not going to do anything like that. I have you and however many single women want to try and be with us later.” That was certainly true. Much as Nejire wanted to keep him to herself, this kid had way too much stamina for one woman. Did he even know how much he outclassed the two other guys she’d been with? He didn’t need an augmentation to become a pleasing size or use some weird application of his Quirk to match her own endurance, let alone surpass it. “So, what’s the plan for while we’re here?”

That got her to grin again, her hair floating a little as she instinctively channeled it through the locks. Nejire started to ramble about some snacks he could help her with, along with how she had a couple movies to watch with. One was old but remastered, one was recent. There was plenty of time to see them before her parents got back for dinner.

By the time Nejire’s parents arrived, Takehiko was asleep on the couch, snoring quietly. Nejire was laying on top of him, enjoying her cousin as a pillow for comfort and warmth. The bluenette’s father rubbed his face while her mother quietly clapped her hands before going to get a blanket for them. Colds were the worst thing to have on the first day to school after all!


	7. First Days of School

Takehiko hummed to himself as he walked onto Chaldea’s campus again. With no uniforms to wear, he felt very free as he followed the other students. He nodded to a few people, surprised by how many people with seemingly foreign origins were here. Did Europe just get too many people for them to take all over the place this year? He was curious. But for now, he was heading for the auditorium to get through orientation. There weren’t any assigned seats, so maybe he’d get to sit with some cute girls? It’d be interesting to see what non-Japanese people thought about his plans for the future.

His pace was interrupted shortly by a tug on his sleeve. Looking back, his gaze dropped from a forehead to a set of purple eyes behind glasses. Man, her squares for pupils were just plain intriguing. “Mister Tamashiro? Oh, good. I’m glad I caught you! I came with my sisters but they went off somewhere while I wasn’t looking and, um.”

He chuckled, and nodded. “Sure, I’ll stick by you. Come on, Medusa-san, let’s get going.”

The Greek girl enjoyed the fact she didn’t have to try and use her incomplete mental dictionary to try and get her question across. The purplette walked next to him, her hair hanging down to the back of her shins. It seemed to Takehiko that this woman wore a sports bra during the entrance exam, given she looked a little bouncier today. Or maybe that was just a consequence of her posture, since Medusa held her hands together at her waist, her bag being kicked by her long legs currently displayed by some tight jeans. The black turtleneck she had on again was certainly not very still as they went. He very much wanted to ask about what was making the girl only a few centimeters shorter than him so happy, but he let it be. They had other things to talk about. Like her adjusting to Japan or the ways she was still learning their culture. He was happy to help her through a few small things about posture and the reason some people looked at her with anger and others didn’t… “Wait. I’m tall, so they think I’m out of their league? And they think I did something to get this specific height?”

Takehiko nodded. “Yep. I’m actually a bit abnormal for the average Japanese person, though not my family. If I was normal, you’d probably be… about here for me,” he waved a hand a little above his head, indicating where he thought Medusa’s own would stand, “instead of being here.”

The purplette let out a slight squeak at being pat on her crown, which was just above his chin. Her eyes darted around for a second, confusing Takehiko a little. “Um, Mister Tamashiro, can you please take your hand off my head? I-I-It’s…”

He did so, wondering what was up with the sudden stuttering. Itsuka and Setsuna and Izuki were usually fine with him doing similar things… Oh, maybe it was just a thing that Greek people weren’t fond of? He’d need to remember that. But for now, Takehiko slipped his hands into his pockets. “Well, let’s get going. Orientation won’t wait for us after all.”

The lightly blushing purplette nodded, stumbling after him for a moment before resuming a normal gait. She was a little amused to note that for every two steps she took, Takehiko made one. And considering she was the tallest of her sisters and normally had to slow down for them on the occasions where they walked together, it was nice to walk her normal speed and not have to go through the uncomfortableness of changing her steps. It didn’t take much longer for the pair to arrive in the auditorium that they’d been assigned. Chaldea had more than a few scattered around campus, but the pair of them were going to one labeled ‘Animusphere Auditorium’, after the original founder of Chaldea fifty years ago. Every campus had one.

As they found a seat in the middle of the auditorium, and waved to Artoria after seeing the short blonde had a seat closer to the front, Takehiko looked around. This was a pretty swanky place. It seemed like the roof could open up from what he saw of the seams in the ceiling before the lights went off. His inspection ended once the screen in front of them flickered on. It took a moment before the Chaldea logo went away to show this branch’s dean. “Hello, everyone. I wish I could say it was good to see you, but I’m broadcasting this from my office. Something about not being able to be in multiple places at once and not having the time in the day to do this speech more than once.” The man with tanned skin and yellow eyes under a mop of white hair currently held in a high ponytail looked amused at that. “Well, let me introduce myself. My name is Romani Archaman, though most of you from Europe might know me as the Wise Hero: Solomon. I’m the dean of this branch of Chaldea Institute for Heroics. I look forward to your careers here, and after graduation!”

While the Japanese students didn’t understand most of what made the audience clap, they did join in once the others started to clap wildly at the dean. Looking to his side, Takehiko wondered if Medusa would tell him why she was grinning like the guy was her personal hero… which wouldn’t be too weird. Heroics colleges had Pro Heroes as professors since the second generation of their existence. They were the ones best equipped to help future generations join them, after all.

Meeting up with Artoria after the speech, Takehiko walked with the pair to the next part of their day: Some kind of meet-up with their sponsors and Chaldea’s own advisors. All three of them had different Pro Heroes sponsoring them, though Medusa had been sent here as part of a trio with her sisters unsurprisingly. Though Artoria had her own mother there as her sponsor, while the taller students had to deal with people who were probably closer to being called tricksy than purely good people. “Wait, you have to deal with your own sponsor teasing you too?”

Medusa nodded, scowling for the first time they’d seen her. “I don’t understand why Medb is so damn…  _ pushy _ ! I don’t need to have a costume that shows off so much skin, and what was wrong with my hood?” The purplette continued her grumbling as they walked to the building. She ran the gamut, Artoria being surprised that the taller girl barely stopped to breathe while Takehiko felt a lot of his own burdens were shared. “...and then those nails! Or stakes or whatever. What was wrong with my idea to wield a scythe? It was cool, it had a detachable blade, it was connected by a chain, and I could capture people with it! And if they were still struggling, I could just bonk them with the shaft.”

Takehiko struggled to not laugh at that. His cheeks red, he turned away from the pair. Meanwhile, Artoria felt no such compunctions. “I doubt it’d be as pleasant as being hit with a meat shaft would be.” That got Medusa to stop walking in shock while the amber-eyed young man nearly doubled over in laughter. The golden-eyed girl made it another couple steps before turning to look at the two very different reactions. “What?”

Separating from his newest friends, Takehiko moved to the room the receptionist pointed him to. Entering the room, he nodded to Tsukasa in greeting before hugging his mother for a few seconds. The advisor let them catch up for a bit before interjecting as to why they were all here. Chaldea would be taking a chunk out of Tsukasa’s salary for the duration of Takehiko’s schooling, after which they’d be taking money from Zi-O himself. Since he’d be working at the Rider Base at least part-time during his school life and after, that would help with some of the costs. But if Takehiko wanted to make use of Chaldea’s facilities for upgrading his gear outside of his Rider armor--““Suit.”” Takehiko and Tsukasa interrupted. Tsukasa glanced at the young man to quiet down before going into the reason why they’d said that, as it was different from a Pro Hero’s costume or a soldier’s armor even if some additions to their Rider Suits were called armor in-house. “There are armored parts on the Suits, but the whole things aren’t strictly labeled armor. Something to do with Ichigou’s policies I don’t remember the exact wording right now.”

With that out of the way, Takehiko’s designs for his non-Rider Suit costume would be made by a company affiliated with Chaldea though they would take some liberties with some of the final product. Upgrading it would require filing paperwork with that company, or telling Chaldea’s support department if he wanted to use their facilities so they could file the paperwork for him and then do the upgrades here as most did while in school. Nodding, the student had his own question. “What if I wanted to do all that outside of Chaldea?”

The advisor couldn’t help laughing. “Outside? Why would you want to use any facilities besides your school’s? It’ll get you familiar with our support department and a taste of the real world.”

“Because I was thinking most of my gear needs would be met at the Rider Base.” That got Tsukasa to look at him curiously, while Kazehime had been listening to a lot of things that went over her head except for the fact things got very expensive for Heroes-in-training and not just the Pros. The advisor was brought short at those words. “Even without Sento Kiryu making my gear, the supplies and inventors there are real smart and are who I’ll be working with after I have my degree. Sure, working with the people here would be good but I don’t know how many people will be staying here in Japan. Do you?”

The advisor opened his mouth a few times before clearing his throat. “...right. So. You’ll probably be using the Rider Base more often than not, outside the events where Chaldea requires students to use our own facilities. That happens a few times over your four years here.” From there, they talked about how fees were waived on the students during those periods though some details weren’t hammered out just yet. There were some things that even the majority of the faculty didn’t know until the events happened. After that came a more general talk about Takehiko’s schedule and what Kazehime’s part in this would be. He wasn’t staying in the dorms so there was a package they could get for monthly payments to pay for his lunches, or the newest Rider could bring them on his own. The Tamashiro family duo was quick to deny the meal package, seeing as Takehiko was quite happy to keep having his mother’s cooking until he moved out fully. Kazehime also had no mixed feelings about keeping her son fed with her energizing food. Her Quirk may not have been allowed in restaurants but the sheer happiness that her family had at eating her food was all she needed.

As the trio left the room with all the payment information put away and signed, Takehiko scratched at his nose for a moment. “I still find it weird that I’m here, even after all that… Oh, Tsukasa-sensei, do you know the dean here? According to a couple of my friends,” he paused as Kazehime giggled at that happily, glad her son was making friends already, “he’s been a pretty big deal in Europe for years. But he looks about as old as you, if not younger.”

The magenta vested man nodded. “I’ve worked with Solomon on a few cases. He’s definitely been at this longer than me, heck I think he worked with Hongo! Considering he was the first Kamen Rider ever labeled such…” That got Kazehime to ask how old he looked. “Like Takehiko said, about as old as me. Here, I’ll pull up a picture.”

“...that’s a lot of hair. How does he take care of it?”

Kazehime’s question caused them both to laugh. “Probably just as hard as anyone else. Though his Quirk probably helps quite a bit.” The Tamashiro family looked at him. “He calls it Lesser Key, after the grimoire that talks about the demons King Solomon could summon according to the Torah. It doesn’t let him summon demons or things that look like them as we know them, but it is something he’s worked for years to have control over.”

That got Takehiko curious. Maybe he would see it in action while here? That sounded like a very impressive Quirk to have, especially if it was named after such an old and supernatural group of creatures. “...what do you mean ‘as we know of them’, Tsukasa-sensei?”

The older Rider just chuckled at that. “You’ll see, one day. Maybe. Trust me, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Kind of like how you don’t understand the full extent of my Quirk.”

Kazehime looked to her son at that, confused. He shook his head, seeing as it was not his story to tell. Not that Takehiko really could tell. Like Tsukasa said, the apprentice didn’t understand just how that Quirk worked. Apparently it gave him the nickname The Destroyer of Worlds, and the plural was very important to him, but such a Quirk couldn’t possibly exist! It sounded like something out of a TV show. Still, Kamen Rider Decade was one of the strongest Riders around and that was only more true with his change to the magenta Neo-Decadriver a few years ago. Though he wasn’t THE strongest Rider, since he said his main power was just Destruction. Of all people, Kazehime’s favorite Rider was the one Tsukasa called the strongest Rider. Takehiko found it a little silly that Kouta Kazuraba would be stronger than the leader of the Rider Base, but he trusted his teacher had his reasons. Who knows, maybe he’d be able to ask Gaim about that directly later?

Though there was certainly a great reaction from his mom when he’d brought home an as-yet unreleased cookbook from the man, autographed and everything. But for now, the mother-son duo were on their way to another lecture while Tsukasa used an Aurora Curtain to transport himself to his next destination.

  
  


“And you’re sure I can’t drive you home, Ma?”

Kazehime laughed to herself. “You have fun with your friends, Takehiko-kun! Maybe make some more before you head home! I’m being dropped off by Kadoya-san, so I’ll be fine. And your uncle Junichiro-san will be home by now as well.” She pat his cheek. “I’ll see you later. Stay safe, alright?”

“But Tsukasa-sensei isn’t even here yet!” Takehiko looked a little miffed at his sponsor for that. The man had the ability to be anywhere he wanted, and he couldn’t even give his mother the decency of coming directly to her? “I’m not going to let you wait all on your own.”

She sighed a little, about to say something before a different thought crossed her mind. “Then why don’t you take me to meet these friends of yours?” That got him to look confused. She pinched his cheek for it. “Why wouldn’t I want to meet your friends, hm? I bet they’re just as nice as you are to an old woman like me.” Kazehime grinned up at her son. “Now start leading me to your meeting spot! I’m sure Kadoya-san will be able to come to me easily enough.”

Takehiko opened his mouth to try and retort, but sooner or later she would meet them… so it was probably better to do this now. Heading towards Chaldea’s dorm buildings, he tells her a few things about the girls. Artoria was going to be the weirder one, not just because of her intense directness but because she sometimes didn’t realize what she said until it was pointed out. “That one has a very small filter, because I think she knows what she’s saying most times but others…” Meanwhile, Medusa was just a little shorter than himself but seemed to have a bit of a complex about it. From what he’d seen during the lectures today they’d shared, whenever he managed to spy her from afar or right next to the purplette, she tried to squeeze as far down into her seat as possible. “PLEASE don’t make a big deal about her height, Ma. I know you thought Itsuka was too short, but these girls are fine as they are…”

Kazehime hummed but made no promises. And that just made Takehiko even more apprehensive about this. Still, as they approached, the mother enjoyed the view. It was a beautiful campus, with plenty of places to sit around and enjoy lunch or just talking with friends. Or cloudwatching. Not something he did very often, but when the train was coming in late and he didn’t want to use his phone much…

Takehiko points out the pair that he’d made friends with so far. And it wasn’t too hard, given Medusa’s purple hair was quite eye-catching, with all the black and brown hair around them being quite usual. Sure, there was a shock of exotic color occasionally, but those were rare. The first one to spot them, or at least Takehiko, was the shorter Artoria, raising her arm up. Kazehime hummed in thought, seeing the tight shorts she wore that had a short gap of skin before going into some stockings, and the slim shirt that clung to her torso quite well, under a thick jacket. The weather hadn’t quite warmed up yet after all. But even so, her yellow eyes and very pale blonde hair were a little offputting to the plump mother. Meanwhile, the taller Medusa was very intriguing. Nice skintone, good hair, and her face looked quite cute. “It is a pleasure to meet you, dears. I’m Kazehime Tamashiro, this one’s mother.”

Artoria nodded. “Artoria Pendragon, pleased to meet you.”

Medusa gave a light bow in greeting, her hands meeting in front of her stomach. Kazehime noted the girl’s strong but slim arms outlined her chest nicely. “I’m Medusa Fithiqori. A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Tamashiro.” Her square pupils looked out from behind her glasses, and Kazehime’s brown eyes were curious about the purple in her eyes. “Your son has been very kind to me since we met.”

Takehiko looked aside, rubbing his nose a little. His mother grinned. “Oh, I’m sure he has. I did raise a gentleman, after all! If one that has some very silly notions about his political career.” Kazehime missed her son’s twitching hand and lip, though the other two didn’t. “But I’m sure with you here, he’ll manage to have quite the good time at this Chaldea. Why don’t you come for dinner some time, Fithiqori-san?” She glanced at Artoria. “...and you as well, Pendragon-san.”

The blonde had a feeling she was being snubbed somehow. Why? They’d only just met! Was it because she was short? That was discrimination against the vertically challenged…

The future King turned back to the conversation. “Well, what’re you two doing today? I know you’ve finished moving in, and class doesn’t start for real until tomorrow. I don’t have any plans.” They started to talk, Kazehime fine with sitting this part out as she watched Takehiko converse with two cute girls. And learning how they ticked was fun. Though she was a little surprised just how dirty the blonde’s mind was, which showed how innocent Medusa was by comparison. Hopefully living in the same campus wouldn’t ruin that part of her. “...and then the guy decides I need to learn what it feels like to get your ass handed to you by someone at super speed. And that is how I learned Clock Up can knock me out of my own time slowing if I don’t use it correctly. There is such a thing as not fast enough for me.”

“For anyone, really.” Kazehime jumped in surprise at the sudden voice entering the talk. “Clock Up isn’t something I or Souji or the other ZECT Riders can do entirely at will. But you and people with Quirks that can speed them up are pretty lucky. You’re a lot more able to be proactive with rescuing people than us.” Turning, they saw it was Tsukasa himself. The brunet smirked a little. “What? I’m here to pick up the woman I brought here. As promised. What’s so weird about that?” He nodded to the two foreigners. “Nice to meet you. I’m Tsuk--”

“The Destroyer…!” Medusa seemed very confused as to why Artoria was so starstruck. The petite blonde moved forward, clasping her hands together. “I never thought I’d actually see you in person. I’m a real big fan of that time you were in Wales and fighting alongside the Galaxy Galleon crew.”

Tsukasa blinked at that. “That was over ten years ago, and I know that no footage of that was taken. How do you know about that?”

She blushed a little. “My mom let me see some of the recordings from your helmet cams. Uh but, I, I never told anyone any details! I never even thought I’d get to tell you that, actually.” Artoria kicked the ground a little shyly. “I don’t have any paper to write on, but, if you’re willing, I do have some skin you can autog--”

“I’ll stop you right there, little miss.” Decade was amused but not doing that. Even if she was a college student, no matter how the jacket hid her curves, he wasn’t going to do that. Especially when it was so cold! “I teach Takehiko on weekends. He can bring you one next time we meet.”

Said apprentice laughed a little, seeing the sparkling golden eyes aimed at him before patting her head. “Sure, Artoria-san. I’ll get you one.”

Artoria cheered at that quietly, drawing laughter from all around her. Others looked over curiously but left the small group be. They had other things to do. Like plot how to tease their little sister for being tall and possibly having a crush. Or figure out how to take the tall fucker out of the equation. That was too many pretty people around him and others deserved that more!

Heading out from U.A.U. with her mother at her side, Izuki couldn’t help giggling. Sure, most boys didn’t giggle. But this was something she’d give herself a pass for. She’d just gotten done with orientation at the school of her dreams! Turning to the woman whom she’d inherited much of her looks from, Izuki grinned. “I can’t wait for tomorrow! This is going to be a great four years, mom, I can feel it!”

Inko smiled at her daughter, dressed boyishly as she was. “You’ll do great here, Izuku.” She’d had years to come to grips with the danger her child would face but there was still a part of her that was not too happy with the fact she’d be seeing news reports in future with a familiar face on them in pain. “I just wish you’d been able to come here with that friend of yours. Takehiko-san sounds like a nice person to be around.”

That got the freckled girl to freeze up for a second. “Mom! He isn’t anything like that, you know that…” Still, she couldn’t help fidgeting a little as they made for the train station. “He already has a girlfriend too. She’s here as a recommendation student so she must be way better than me.”

“Hush now, Izuki!” Hearing her real name brought bright greens to their older match. “You’ve got plenty of time to find out a way to make him yours. Or maybe they just break up on their own.” Inko put her hand on her cheek. “...that is how I got Hisashi, after all. He may have treated me like a rebound for a few weeks, but we had something very nice for years. Including you.” Coming out of her memories, the greenette mother smiled at her slightly taller daughter. “And if he doesn’t, I know you’ll find someone someday. After you graduate and become a great Hero, at least.”

Izuki smiled at her, and wrapped her mother up in a hug as people moved around them. “Thanks, mom.” Pulling away, the two locked arms as they kept moving. “And thank you for the design help on my costume! That’s going to be real useful when I start going on patrol and all that.”

For all the pair thought they were fine, a pair of blue eyes was watching them from afar. At first, the plain looking pair of people had been glossed over. From behind, even their green hair wasn’t anything too special. But when the older one had mentioned that name? Oh, she’d given them her undivided attention. For all she loved her motorcycle, now she knew it was a good idea to not take it here. She’d learn where they lived, and then she’d figure out how far they were from Takehiko.

And then she had the displeasure of learning the mother-daughter pair got off at the same station she did! This line was the best way to Todai and U.A.U. from their homes. Would she be seeing Takehiko on this train after all? Where did he even… She froze behind the turnstile, seeing him leaning on a weird looking bike at the curb. The greenettes made their way towards him, and the two students shared high-fives for getting through their orientations. Exiting the station, the blue-eyed woman tried to think of how to approach him herself. He hadn’t sent her any texts or calls, she had done the same. Saying goodbye had been the worst idea she’d ever had. Why didn’t she just tell him to slow down with the visits and dates? Now they were broken up and he had someone else. But she hadn’t seen that greenette with the wavy hair all day, so maybe she went to a different college? That would be wonderful. It’d make competition for getting him back easier.

Takehiko tapped the front of his bike and it folded up into an item that he put into his pocket. The trio began to walk away, talking still. She wanted to follow and ask what was going on with them all. But the thought of actually talking to him again, after what she did… the orangette turned towards her neighborhood, running so that she didn’t have to stay near his house too long. Maybe Yui would be able to help?

The future King stopped, looking behind him. ...no, that couldn’t be. He shook his head before resuming his walk with the greenettes, assuring them he just thought he’d heard someone familiar.

Coming to a stop in front of Chaldea, Takehiko grinned as he took his helmet off. It was the first day of school. Now was going to be the start of his real journey to Kingship!

Getting the Ridestriker back into its watch form, he slipped it into his windbreaker’s pocket before slinging his backpack up over his shoulder. As he walked onto campus, the amber-eyed young man hummed to himself. He looked around, taking in the various sights of the people here without their parents or guardians or sponsors at their side. It gave a much less crowded look to the place, though that would probably change once the foreigners left their dorms. Now then, his first lecture was in… that building. As he went, Takehiko waved to a blonde heading for a different building. Once they were inside, he brought his phone out on feeling it buzz. His schedule aligned with hers on lunch, so they’d meet in the cafeteria.  <I’d invite you to my dorm instead, but the rules say freshmen can’t do that for people who aren’t the same gender or sex. And you are definitely male.>

That got a laugh out of him as he entered a lecture hall. Takehiko grinned at seeing a familiar shade of purple hair sitting in one of the back rows. Walking up to her, Medusa was quite happy to see she’d have someone to spend mornings with pleasantly. As they got ready, someone else decided to see what was going on. Leaning down over them, some dark pink, nearly red, hair fell down. “Hey there. You two look cozy.” Squeaking at the intruding voice, Medusa turned her square pupils up while Takehiko’s amber eyes looked more slowly. A young woman with jeans, an opened white and red letterman jacket, and a tank top that was fighting a mighty battle against gravity when she was sitting was leaning over her desk behind them, looking at the pair with indigo eyes. “Wassup? Name’s Frances. I’m gonna be a sea-based Pro.”

Medusa nodded back, introducing herself. “I’ll be pretty mobile, since my family breeds horses.”

Takehiko waved up at her. “I’m Kamen Rider Zi-O. I carry my bike with me.” Frances looked very curious at that, while Medusa still found it a little weird that he said the watch he pulled out was a folded up bike. “Professor Kiryu is a mad genius.”

Any more talking was put on hold by the Pro Hero professor walking in. “Welcome, students, to where I’ll be teaching Riding Theory 101. While some of the info here isn’t going to be immediately applicable once you graduate, you’ll be glad to have it.” He ran a gloved hand through his spiky green hair, grinning up at the rows of desks. “You can call me Achilles-sensei. Or if your tongue can handle it,  _ Kathigitís Achilles _ . I’ll understand if you don’t.” He taps a few buttons on the podium before swiping up on his holographic display. “Follow this QR code to the syllabus for the year. You’ll see it doesn’t cover quite as much as your other classes will. Most of this will be self-study, but I also have a few lessons planned for outside the classroom too. You won’t see those on the calendar.”

Takehiko looked up from the file, and hummed as an idea hit him. He wasn’t a tech wiz, so taking this to Sento would be the way forward with this. He doubted Chaldea would do that, but it was the first he’d seen something that made him think his phone could be attacked. At the same time, holographic displays that you could interact with were pretty freaking cool! He just wished they had a tactile response. Ah well.

The lectures being about more how the school year would go rather than anything worth noting was the trend for the day. The Destroyer’s apprentice made a few other friends as well, or at least met people he thought would be friends. Before he left campus though, Takehiko rose an eyebrow as he heard people gasping. They’d been surrounded by Pro Heroes all day, what made this one special? ...the beauty of the redhead certainly was a point in her favor. He wondered how well she could use that sword. “You’re Takehiko Tamashiro, yes? Come with me.”

Following her, he felt the cape was a very bad choice. It didn’t let him see any of the woman’s form as he walked behind her. He wondered what this was about, considering he hadn’t done anything besides attend lectures all day and meet new people that didn’t think his Quirk not being easily seen meant he didn’t have one or that it was weak. That had been nice. “This is my office.” He was brought back to reality as the redhead led him into a well-decorated room. Lots of pictures of people, and a few trophies. A bare armor holder was in one corner, with a backpack in front of it. Did she come and go from work in her civilian get-up? “I’m Victory Queen. Well, that’s my Pro Hero name, Zi-O.” Sitting at her desk and waving for him to sit across from her, the blue-eyed woman watched him. “But my real name is Boudicca Rhydderch. I’m also your contact for any Kamen Rider activities that are brought up and require your attention overseas.”

Takehiko blinked at that. “What? Why would  _ I _ be sent overseas when I’m so new to this?” He saw that she was very surprised to hear him speaking English, and that almost got him to smirk. Focus. “I’m just the new kid and not even allowed to do Pro Hero work here in Japan without permission.”

Boudicca nodded. “Here in Japan. But there are places outside this nation where a Masked Rider would be very useful in certain situations. And so long as you wear your armor, the rules aren’t quite so strict. Hence why I’d be contacting you, and Decade, about missions where you’d be asked for. But Chaldea will be assessing all of your skills before that, barring an emergency.” She smiled at him, tilting her head. “Any questions?”

Oh, a few that were a bit too personal for now. “Will you be calling me through the loudspeakers or my phone?”

The redhead looked aside to think on that for a moment. “Mm… Your phone.” Bringing her own out, she fiddled with a few things before holding it out towards him. Takehiko added her to his contacts via QR code easily. “That way people don’t start panicking all over the place if I need to be specific about why you’re being called.”

Takehiko nodded. That made sense. “That’s my only question for now, Rhydderch-sensei. Anything you want to ask me before I head home?”

Boudicca looked at the young man, and took in how he acted and the way his amber eyes moved about. “...not today. Have a good evening, Tamashiro-san. I’ll see you later.” As he stood and gave her a light bow, a thought almost left her mouth before the redhead closed her lips. No, she couldn’t ask that of him. It was too much to ask of any student. As the door closed, she looked at the picture of herself and her daughters on the desk. “You’ll have good men, I promise. Not like your father, and certainly not like those hooligans that nearly…”

Walking out of Chaldea’s gates after talking to Medusa and Artoria about their days while in different lectures, and wondering if he should look into that Heroics Business course later for how compatible it was with his political schedule, Takehiko rose an eyebrow. “What the heck is that guy doing with that sign?”

In front of him was a young man holding up a sign that had his logo on it. It wasn’t just the katakana for ‘Kamen’, it was  _ his stylized version _ of that katakana. What the heck was going on with that? He moved over to see what the guy wanted. Though he would admit, that was a pretty cool scarf he was rocking. “Hello. Why are you calling me over?”

The scarf wearer grinned at him, lowering the sign and bowing… much lower than Takehiko anticipated. “ _Wa ga Maou_.”

his what

“I have been waiting for this day for many years! Ever since I read about your ascent in this book, I have been looking forward to meeting you!” The stranger held up a bound book that was titled ‘Ohma Advent Calendar’ as he stood up. “My family has been awaiting you for quite a long time. But today, I am here to offer my services as your vassal.” Setting the sign down and putting the book in a sling that kept it close at hand and easy to access, the young man pulled a business card from his pocket. “I am Rashin Tokimura. Pleased to meet you!”

Takehiko accepted the card, looking at the name embossed on it. Yeah, he really was named ‘Time Village’, which seemed quite odd but he wouldn’t say that. “Takehiko Tamashiro. Pleased to meet you, Tokimura-san. So, why are you offering your services as my vassal?”

Rashin came back up to standing as his brown eyes looked at the other man’s amber gaze excitedly. “I am trained in multiple martial arts, have been accepted to U.A.U. and am going to be taking a business course to help My Overlord run his future Agency and campaign. The Calendar doesn’t tell me what either of those will be like, but I’ll be happy to do my part!”

That got him to blink. He certainly hadn’t told this guy anything about his future career plans… Future Agency? Like a Pro Hero Agency? But he’d be working at the Rider Base. Though most of the recent Riders did have their own private residences or places for operations that weren't in the heart of Tokyo. Perhaps Takehiko would be able to find somewhere like that for himself, it did have some appeal now that he heard it. “That will certainly take some weight off my shoulders. Where would your specialization lie in that time?”

The scarf wearer rolled his shoulder a little. “I do not know just yet, My Overlord. But I do know tha--”

“Drop the ‘ma’. I only plan to be ‘ou’. Alright?”

Rashin bowed deeply. “My mistake! The Oma Advent Calendar called you the Greatest Overlord of Time, and I adopted that as your title, sir. My deepest apologies!”

Takehiko tried not to let the fact this guy was treating him as King as a foregone conclusion go to his head. But it was very hard. “You’re forgiven. Now come, Rashin-san. Let’s walk and talk about how we can work together.”

As the new vassal thanked his lord for being so merciful and forgiving, someone else watched the pair. He was scowling, eyes on the back of the young man who was going to be a pain in his side considering he was the new guy and yet  _ Tsukasa Kadoya was training him! _ He’d worked his ass off for YEARS to get into U.A.U., his principal had recommended him for it, and then this guy showed up and took his spot in the limelight. At least they didn’t share Drivers. Sento-hakase had made more than one just to be safe, but the Jikuu Driver was all his. Maybe he should ask the man if he could help rejigger his Ridewatch though. Having it call his name instead of an alias was a little self-centered. Though certainly nothing as pretentious as Time-King…

Hopping to his feet, Takehiko looked at the watch he’d taken to wearing after the second day of college. It was a simple digital sports watch, able to stand up to normal exercise just fine and not prone to going out of whack just because he moved around so much. Though he did have to reset the clock whenever he stopped time because it kept going even if the rest of the world didn’t. “I gotta get going. Promised Ma I’d be home for dinner tonight.”

Laid out on the sand after a good workout, Izuki let a pout form. There were many things she did to make people think she was male, but when it was just the two of them, the greenette let out some of her sillier instincts. “But it isn’t even five o’clock! Why do you have to go so early?” She studiously ignored the options that popped into her head. No dragging Takehiko to her house or inviting herself into his. “And we’ve still got some sparring to do!”

He chuckled some, holding a hand out to the broccoli-looking girl. “Yeah, but I didn’t drive here. Gotta head to the train station, and if I want to get home at a good time, now’s it.” Takehiko rooted himself to the sand as Izuki leveraged herself up with his arm. “Probably wouldn’t hurt you either. Did Yagi-san get you any more training regimes now that you’re in college?”

She shook her head, shaking out her arms. “No. He said that U.A.U. is going to be tough enough without adding on more things that’ll get me tired in the middle of class. I can’t afford to fall asleep during it either. Aizawa-sensei is too strict to let that slide.” Izuki smiled up at Takehiko, tilting her head at the stairs. “Might as well go with you. It is a lot harder to train by myself these days.”

He chuckled at that, understanding it quite well. Now that he was in the habit of working out alongside her, Takehiko felt a certain boredom that came from most of his other friends not being able to push him quite the way Izuki could. Or at least didn’t represent quite the same bar to match and surpass. The other Chaldean students were monsters in all sorts of ways, but Takehiko couldn’t match some of their feats. And he was fine with that. But when he could beat Izuki in a race, that would be an achievement worth celebrating. On the way back to the train station, they talked about how differently the two colleges were so far. U.A.U. had gotten their costume designs while they were waiting for school to start, and on the second day, one of her lectures had actually been a practical class, Applied Heroics. Izuki seemed a little embarrassed when asked about her costume. “I don’t have any pictures, but I’ll see about taking one or two next week?” That suited Takehiko fine. He was mostly curious about the design. His own costume (“Yes I do have one besides the armor.” “Eheheheh…”) was taking a little longer to get ready. But he’d certainly send them her way when he could. “How’s your progress with your Quirk coming? I remember you’ve said your training with it is pretty hard.

Takehiko nodded. “Yeah. I can slow down time enough it basically stops, but there’s a difference between that and actually stopping time, I’ve found.” At her interested look, he elaborated. “When I stop time, I can’t actually interact with anything. Everything is frozen in place, except light. But when I slow down time to the point where it looks like I stopped it, I can still push things. Like… Can I demonstrate on you?” Izuki was quite happy to see firsthand what he meant. And let out a quiet gasp once time resumed. “That was a gentle poke with slowed down time. And that was a poke in stopped time.”

“...I didn’t feel a second one?”

“Exactly. I could probably use it to set up attacks with the Jikan Girade’s gun mode, or something else that would be stopped once it left my area of control, but learning to slow down time to that point has been real backbreaking.” He stretched out his spine some. “Gonna be a long path to getting that done, but I’m confident I’ll get there.”

The two finally came to the train station. And while Takehiko didn’t offer the arm around her, or just move to put it there as he had before, Izuki was close to him. After a few bumps, she put his hand on her waist herself. The pole was taken up, she couldn’t reach the handholds like he could, and moving away was not an option. So being held was the best choice (because holding on instead was liable to make her faint).

  
  


**_EEEE EEE EEEE EEE_ ** and there went the alarm… alarm? Izuki grumbled as she rolled over in bed… wait, but she was in… a dream. Another dream. A very vivid, far too nice dream. “...do I have a breeding kink?” That thought, and quiet question to herself, made the girl a tomato before burying her face in her pillow. Now was not the time for that! She had… what day was it… she had college in an hour so this was not the day to get stuck in her sheets because she wanted to make the mess she’d created worse!

Was this part of that Game Virus she had? Maybe she should ask Hojo-sensei to help… or Takehiko, he had the right Ridewatch for it. Even if just thinking about him made her bury even further into the pillow. How would he react if she went without her binder? Perhaps his hands could… “Stupid, stupid, stupid, stop it!” There were better things to think about than Takehiko gripping anything hard and like he owned her. “...STOP IT!”

Inko looked over at her daughter’s room curiously. What was she doing in there? It sounded like she had some odd dream again. Would she need to wash her sheets again? The mother chuckled a little bit, glad to see that after so long, Izuki had found someone that actually made her want to bring them home. Now if only she’d actually BRING that Takehiko home. She wondered how he liked katsudon? Well, for now, there were other things to do. Like hope Hisashi actually answered her monthly call this time.

  
  


Takehiko brought his arm up, and pat the blonde head that would have slid between his limb and torso otherwise. “Hey there, Artoria. How’re you today?” He glanced down at the calm girl, who seemed quite happy to let his hand stay there even as their pace slowed down some. “Finally getting to train in the simulator.”

She nodded. “Mmhmm. I can show the world how good Necrocalibur is. And I’m doing well. Had a good breakfast and I think my cup size went up again last night. My bra’s a little tighter than usual.” Artoria smiled a little wider on feeling and hearing his steps falter. “Want to join me and Medusa while we go shopping this weekend?”

The future King removed his hand from her head, stepping a bit so that they walked a little more normally together. “Is that actually a plan or will you be dragging her out without saying anything?”

“Yes.”

“Sure, I’ll join you.”

“Join her on what?” A purple-haired glasses wearer stepped up next to him, flanking Takehiko’s other side now with a curious gaze in her square pupils. “And good morning.”

“Mornin’.”

“Hi. Want to go lingerie shopping this weekend?” Artoria was glad the weather was still cold enough to make wearing her muffler a good idea. It let her hide her grin as Medusa almost fell down, though how far she actually would have gone without Takehiko’s arm to catch her was up in the air. “Well?”

Looking at the young man who had helped her gratefully, that gaze turned sheepish as she opened her mouth to ask if he’d move away a little. But then Takehiko said he’d already said he would, as that was when Medusa showed up. Blushing to the roots of her hair, the Greek girl wondered if all Japanese men were this confident, while wondering if all English women were so brazen… “Ok-okay, I’ll go.”

Takehiko laughed a bit when Artoria pumped her fist. “Let’s talk about what time and where to go later. We do have combat class to finish first.” That got the taller people to agree with the blonde before they turned to talking more about how their designs turned out. The only guy in this trio wasn’t ecstatic with his design, considering Tsukasa managed to sneak in some hints of magenta while he wasn’t looking. But it was certainly not a bad looking outfit. Medusa’s outfit probably looked close to his, since her own design was mainly black and pink. Artoria meanwhile was looking forward to wearing her armor in full. “Maybe I’ll upgrade Necrocalibur later on? But it already has a pretty good edge and battery.”

Their chatter faded out as they went to their locker rooms to get their costumes on. Standing in front of his locker and checking himself out in the mirror attached to the door, Takehiko stretched his arms out in different directions. It looked a little like his Rider Suit but without the Count Pads or bulk to the chest armor or legs. A black vest with short sleeves, and a silver shirt with a watch band pattern, leading into pants of the same black color and comfortable dark blue boots. On his forearms were some grey holsters, which he found fit his Ridewatches perfectly. Once he took out the chrome stand-ins that was. The gloves were a snug fit which was very nice, though he wondered how they’d work with the Ridestriker’s handlebars. Glancing around, he blinked. The archer was wearing a very tight white getup plus gloves, while the spearman was wearing something that exposed his chest and… now applying some bits of jewelry to his chest along with some glue. Yeah, that was where Takehiko stopped paying attention and started to leave. Some people had the weirdest ideas for what their Hero costumes would be.

It didn’t take much time before the newest Rider found himself in the same simulator room he’d used for the entrance exam so long ago… was it really just a few weeks? Man. He was the first one here though, which was a little odd but Takehiko was fine with that. He could spend that time while the rest of his class got ready and came in to stretch out his limbs. Limbering up was definitely important in this sort of class.

He wasn’t joined for another few minutes, but the simulator room was definitely filled a little more than the entrance exam as a full class of people came in. Looking around from where he was planking, Takehiko took in the various costumes on display. And yet no… oh, there they were, the two last ones to enter.

Medusa’s choices confused him some, seeing as she was wearing a blindfold that looked a little snake-like. The rest of her costume was normal enough, a black dress with pink lining the top and giving everyone a very good idea what she looked like without it. The detached sleeves were made with the same materials, as were her thigh-high boots it seemed, though there was a bit of armor at the front of her shins. As Takehiko stood up, he saw that she wasn’t entirely in here under her own power. Artoria was behind the purplette, pushing her in… and looking very evil for it. Even with the hood down to leave her bun in the air, the rest of the blonde’s get up did not seem like the most Heroic of things. A black hooded jacket with long sleeves, armored gauntlets, and her own version of zettai ryouiki interrupted by the bits attached to her actual armor by what looked like strings. Though it seemed she subscribed to similar boot makers, seeing there were small bits of armor that protected mostly the front parts of the joints for her feet. Walking to them to try and calm down his friend, a speaker came to life overhead. “Welcome to Applied Heroic Combat. This class is meant to teach you all how to use your Quirks and your equipment well, along with your own bodies at times. But we’ll get to that later. This class will start with everyone separating into brackets, as you can see here.”

A screen came up from the floor, and showed a bracket system that looked like everyone was fighting in a tournament of some sort. Takehiko looked away from it to try and help Medusa again. It seemed she’d asked for something much less skin tight but got something she hadn’t been expecting. Meanwhile, everyone else seemed quite fine with their costumes. Some were conservative, some weren’t, but no one else seemed to be making quite as big a fuss about their outfits as her, which just made Medusa feel more embarrassed. Even as the explanation of what would be happening kept going and wrapped up, Takehiko tried to help his friend. “You can send this to Chaldea’s Support division later, get them to make you a costume you actually want. But right now, you’ll have to put up with someone else’s mistake. Is there anything else I can do to help?”

Artoria seemed a little contrite from her part in this almost-meltdown. Medusa seemed to calm down at Takehiko’s question. Nodding, the purplette took in a few breaths. “...be honest when we’re shopping this weekend?”

That got him to chuckle. “Of course. Anything less would be an insult to you.” He turned around to check out what was going on since some names had been called out but none of theirs. And he saw that a pair of students were fighting very intensely in a ring that had sprung up from the floor. “Uh, either of you know what’s going on?”

“Good thing I kept track of things for ya, landlubber.” That got three heads to turn, two of them recognizing the young woman with pink hair in a pirate-y outfit that seemed to be fighting the same battle as the tanktop he sometimes saw her in. “Yer not going to stay at the wheel very long if you let life rock you like that.” The young woman smirked as Takehiko rolled his eyes while Artoria looked very confused about why she was spouting pirate-isms at them. Medusa just nodded in greeting to Frances. “We be fightin’ a tournament, single elimination but no true winner says the teacher. Apparently this first one is just to get us all used ta each other. But what that means is up to her.” Takehiko nodded at that. It made sense, especially if the instructor was the one calling for all the matches to go only so long. Probably best he not break out his time manipulation just yet, in that case. “So what’s this I hear about ye goin’ shoppin’ with these two lovelies?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Medusa is wearing her standard Rider gear/Stage 1 from FGO, Artoria is MHXAlter Stage 3, Frances is wearing her own standard Rider gear/Stage 1 from FGO.


	8. Shopping and Some Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this came out a lot later than I expected. Woops.

Standing in front of the mall he’d been told to go to, Takehiko looked up and wondered what would happen here. After all, this was a mall that mixed the normal stuff he’d seen growing up with a bit more of an artiste feel from the second floor up. At least he had some spending money from some work as Sento’s test dummy and for doing a few things for the Rider Base as a whole. But his payments for just being Kamen Rider Zi-O were separate from those and also much more likely to pay for anything he got here. And hadn’t that been a surprise, seeing a paycheque in the mail just for BEING Kamen Rider Zi-O! It took a lot to not just run out to a store or up to his room to buy something nice and shiny.

Turning his thoughts to what his accumulated funds will be buying today, he looked around. There was Medusa, her height and purple hair helping her stand out among the normal folks and even among the people with Mutation Quirks. Especially since it seemed like she had a unique shade even among other people. She wasn’t talking to anyone, but he didn’t see anyone nearby. And then the young man felt someone run into his back, arms wrapping around his waist. “Hello there.”

“Hi, Takehiko. How’re you today?” It was a little muffled, but definitely Artoria. Very cuddly today. “I’m looking forward to this.”

He chuckled some at that. “I’m alright. Curious where you three will be taking me.”

Artoria hummed at that, still pressed up against his back for minutes when Medusa arrived. “Good morning, Takehiko, Artoria. Have you seen Frances?” At his shaken head and her thumbs down, the purplette frowned. “Hopefully she arrives soon. ...Artoria, stop holding on to him so tightly. That’s rather rude.”

“He hasn’t said stop.”

Takehiko grinned a bit at Medusa and her cross look. “I’ve only had one female friend before this year. I have no idea what I should or shouldn’t allow.” And considering what Itsuka was like, using her as a baseline was probably not the best idea for his future relationships barring Setsuna. “How was your trip here?”

She shrugged. As Medusa related the odd fact that she hadn’t seen either of the other women on her way here, she stumbled as someone hooked a hand over her shoulder. “Hey there! You two look pretty comfy. Mind if I cut in?”

Artoria peeked out around Takehiko’s arm, seeing that Frances had arrived and had her arm around Medusa’s neck. That made the blue-eyed woman very confused. “How did you beat us here? Didn’t you leave last?”

“I know the train lines better than you. Lived here for a while as a kid.” Takehiko glanced down at the shortest member of this group, amber eyes curious. “My dad is Japanese.”

That explained her perfect Japanese in comparison to Medusa or Frances. But also, “So why are you so clingy?”

“Something my mother said. If you don’t lay claim to what you want, someone else will take it.” She gives his stomach a light squeeze. “So I lay my claim.”

Those words and actions got the taller girls to goggle at her. Takehiko couldn’t help a laugh. “I can appreciate that! No one wants to see what they want just disappear with no action on their part.”

An orangette sneezed, nearly knocking her beloved motorcycle over.

Medusa wondered what this weird feeling in her stomach was while Frances laughed as well. The self-styled captain could quite understand where she was coming from. After all, her inspiration for how she would be a Pro Heroine was a pirate of great renown. And pirates certainly grabbed whatever they wanted. “Come on, let’s get going. Who knows, it might be best if she is clingin’ to him like that. After all, she’s so small! Could get lost if we didn’t know what she was doing!”

Artoria scowled at Frances for that, and almost left Takehiko’s body entirely if not for the fact he placed his arm between them. He seemed a little confused by something for a moment before looking down at her. “You’re not going to do much against her just going up and kicking her, y’know.” The blonde looked up curiously, asking how he knew what she was going to do. “That friend I mentioned was pretty short through most of middle school herself, shot right up in high school but still held herself like people were going to make short jokes for a few months.” He jerked his head at the mall. “Come on. Let’s get going. New clothes won’t be found by themselves.”

Frances was very enthusiastic about that part. The dark-pinkette was very curious what her classmates would be choosing for their new bras, while she herself had resigned to needing custom orders. One of the perks of her Hero costume, built-in support that she could adjust. And the use of Chaldea’s Support Department was going to be very useful too. But right now, it was fun time! And what better fun was there than using a boy’s money for all her wants and needs of the day?

And wow were there some choices to be made. She hadn’t been to a mall in London before, but dang did this look like it’d give any of those a run for their money. Sparkly floors even with thousands if not hundreds of thousands of shoes on them at any one time, the stands that stood around and between stores having some people hawking their wares while others were just waiting (im)patiently for someone to come and check them out. But the first floor wasn’t where the best places for new get-ups or underthings were. Going up an escalator, Frances looked around. She grinned at all the places that looked good for today. “Miss Frances,” her blue eyes looked up to Medusa’s, “could you please stop playing with my hair? Just because it is long doesn’t mean I can’t feel it.”

Looking to the bottom of her giant hairfall, Frances realized what was going on. “Oh, that’s just me tits doin’ that! With us standing so close to each other, I can just jiggle and move your hair.” She demonstrated this with some hard shrugging, much to Medusa’s mortification. The purplette brought her hair up with her hands. “Oh, like you wouldn’t do the same to me if my hair was that long. And you’re lucky you weren’t caught in the steps, too.”

That much, the Greek girl did agree with. Maybe they’d take an elevator on the way down. Her indigo eyes turned back to the pair in front of their group, Takehiko seeming quite content with letting Artoria play with his fingers. The blonde wasn’t doing anything too weird with them, just making various shapes that would probably look better against shadows, but still. Even for a girl grown outside of Japan’s very self-conscious ways, that seemed a bit too intimate. That’s nothing to say for the fact the short swordswoman was also English and daughter to the King of Knights herself! Hm, would that be why she’d come here? Even if it was an offshoot school, there were some things that would be different. Part of Chaldea’s curriculum, a few days after the sports festival really, was deciding on their Pro Hero names. Medusa would rather have gone with most of the Western world’s method, letting the people come up with your titles and nicknames. But Asia and Northern America let people choose their own Pro Hero names while they were in school, including a few high schools that had special curriculums for people who showed off particularly heroic traits. Part of her wondered what it would have been like to go to one of those…

Focusing back on the present, Medusa glanced around. She was able to step off the escalator without tripping, so that was good. Part of her wanted to go to one of those underground malls here since she’d never been in one like that back home. As the snake descendant walked with the dragon, the clock, and the pirate, she took in the various stores around. There were some good places to go but what had the best things for today’s… goals. Medusa blushed a little, given she thought Artoria and Frances would be putting on shows for Takehiko. Should she join them? He was going to be honest with how it looked. But did she want to put herself on display for her only male friend ever? Her Pro Hero costume was one thing after all. Underwear and possibly swimsuits, that was something else.

Speaking of, she needed to get her changes sent in to the Support Dept. They wouldn’t change her dress to be a little less form fitting otherwise. Though considering her fighting style, could they? That was a legit concern because no one wanted to waste money on something that would ruin her ability to do her work. “usa.”

Her square pupils looked out into nothing as she started to think about “Medusa!” The purplette squeaked, looking at the trio who were giving her concerned looks. “If you don’t wanna go in with the rest of us, at least say something.”

Takehiko’s words brought the tall girl back to the present. Glancing around, it seemed she’d stopped in the middle of the mall while stuck in her thoughts. “No, I’m, I’m okay. Just got lost in thought. Sorry.”

Frances looked a bit unconvinced, but didn’t say anything while Artoria started to pull her towards the lingerie store. “Come on. I wanna hear your opinion on the black stuff.” That got Medusa to sigh a little in embarrassment, especially when the blonde added “And then we can show it off to Takehiko.”

The young man didn’t say anything, his amber eyes following the purple head for a moment before walking in after the three. “I’ll start being honest by saying this: I have no idea what kind of choosing goes into this, only that I know what I like and that might not be what you choose to wear.”

Frances cackled a bit at that. “But will you like how we wear it? That is the more important question.” He shrugged, and looked around. Women were all over the store, looking at what they did or didn’t want. A few significant others were there at their behest, some eager and others not as. “Now where to put you so we can have our fun without interrupting others…”

Takehiko’s first idea was to get a giant dressing room, but that probably needed a Quirk to be allowed in and not just a large group, comparatively speaking. For the moment, he just followed his newest friends and hummed a tune to himself as they looked at the things they could or couldn’t wear. Being too big was a concern, but aside from a few things, Artoria and Medusa didn’t know how they’d learn that besides putting the items on. Frances however knew that only the larger end of items would even begin to fit comfortably, and that was if this store sold those in the first place. Didn’t mean she couldn’t see if anything fit her tastes though. SOMEthing had to! Right?

Sitting at a table in the food court a short time later, you could find four people having their meal and bags sitting next to their feet. Or that is what should be happening, considering only two of the occupants were eating. The blonde one was munching at her giant burger happily, ketchup and mustard smeared a bit around her lips. The dark-pinkette was pink-cheeked, eating her burrito slowly and glancing at the others. The purplette was unable to touch her sandwich, red-faced and keeping her eyes on her thighs. The black-haired young man was stiff, not even looking at the air in front of him as his processors took their sweet time getting back in working order and keeping him from touching his bread bowl of soup.

Their calm meal was interrupted by a couple voices laughing. “Man, what’s this? Takehiko, you had to go get three workin’ girls for a day out?! That’s just sad, man. One of ‘em even looks like a grade schooler!” Irritated amber eyes look over his shoulder at the annoying one coming his way. And his main lackey was there too it seemed, lovely. “How goes that path to PM,  _ king _ ?”

As a hand subtly crackling with sparks of electricity starts to descend towards his shoulder, the future King stops time. Looking at his friends, he sees that they were not too impressed with this guy. That made Takehiko smile some, and he was curious what Artoria would do with her hand as she lifted it from her burger. Confidence restored from how it looked like they weren’t going to… well, Frances was about to get up it seemed, but none of them were going to leave him alone it seemed. Turning back to his schooltime tormentor, Takehiko brings his hand up to catch the taser meant to attack him. Time flows again, the bully surprised by how his hand was stopped without even a blink.

And then Artoria called the electricity from his fingertips to her own hand. Frances and Medusa were very surprised she could do that, having only seen her generate lightning before. The blonde looked it over, finding the thin amount of power very unimpressive as she ultimately gathered it atop her pinky. The little sparks barely looked bigger than her nail. And with a quick puff of breath, they went out as if a match had been blown out. The bully growled at that, looking quite peeved while his lackey was very disturbed by how nonchalant the blonde was while the two other girls seemed very amused. Takehiko himself, the great big target, was quite calm too. “Gonna make your hired bitches do your work for you, ya faker? You can’t ev--”

“Just shut up, would you?” Amber eyes looked up at the pair of bullies. “You’re disturbing my friends and ruining our meal. Leave us be.”

The bully stumbled back, having not quite registered his own attempts to pull out of the strong grip on his forearm until it was released. Rubbing the limb, he looked at the guy that used to be his main target of aggression back in high school. And instead of even the slight bit of trepidation, Takehiko was just annoyed. “I bet your Quirk is still dumb!” He tur

ned to go and fell over thanks to his shoelaces being tied together. As the two boys began to make their way away, the future King hummed before turning back to his soup. Frances was chuckling into her burrito and sitting again, blue eyes sparkling in amusement. Medusa was shaking her head a little, surprised her friend could be so petty. Artoria had resumed her burger munching once it looked like the uninvited pair were leaving at all. “Honestly. Some people.”

“Did you have to stop time to tie his shoelaces together?” The square-pupilled woman got a cheeky grin at that. It made her bring out a small smile in return. “I didn’t think you would ever use your Quirk for something so dumb.”

“Hey, he brought it on himself. I was about ta pop him one right in ‘is facehole if he hadn’t shut up. How’d you do that, Arty? That was”

“Don’t call me that.”

“pretty dang cool! Alright, alright, sorry.” Frances laughed a little at the pout Artoria sent her way. “That particular one or at all?” The blonde tilted her head, pout changing from annoyed to confused. “Do you not like that nickname or any that change your name?”

Oh. That made sense. Artoria nodded. “The second.”

As she resumed eating, Frances nodded. “Same here! My name is Frances, not Franky or Franny or something.”

Medusa hummed at that, setting her sandwich down as she thought on that. “I’ve never been given a nickname based around my real name. No one really wants to interact with the girls named after goddesses and a monster, after all…”

Takehiko reached over to pat her shoulder. “Those people are dumb. You’re great fun to be around.” As Medusa enjoyed the touch before remembering where his hand had been a few minutes ago, she became quite red again as the only male in the group sat down again. “I’ve gotten a bunch of different nicknames just from my name from family and friends before. It is a lot of syllables after all.”

So many variations… Not that he was too upset about it, but Takehiko was certainly curious why the people he knew chose the ones they did. In the meantime, he enjoyed his soup. Oof, he’d been braindead a little too long. It was cold now. Not the way this soup was supposed to had. But he didn’t want to burn the bread with friction to reheat it. Actually, was he even able to do that in the first place? That was something new to test at the Rider Base on a different weekend.

As the quartet left the mall not long after, Takehiko blinked and smiled as he saw something nice. He waved to the small group of U.A. students approaching the mall themselves. Specifically, at the walking piece of broccoli. But once that one waved back, more than one curious gaze was directed at the pair that didn’t do much else to greet each other. Frances looped an arm around his shoulders, asking the future King what was going on while the U.A. students were starting to make their way over. “I just know that one there, the green-haired one.”

In the much more eclectic mix of college students going to U.A. University, a brunette in a wide bob cut was asking Izuku how he knew the tall guy there. The blond with a black lightning bolt in his hair wanted to know if he was with any of those girls, while the bird-headed young man wondered at something Dark Shadow was whispering about. Why did his sentient Quirk think that this amber-eyed man was worth such caution?

“He’s a timeless void, able to eat up so many things… We have to stay away from him, Fumi! You may not be able to feel it, but this guy could steal all of our Quirks if he wanted to!” That sounded quite odd and quite impossible, but it was also the first time Dark Shadow had told him anything like it. Surely a simple college student like him couldn’t do that sort of thing without ample preparation? A ritual of some kind must be needed.  “No, this guy doesn’t need a ritual. I can tell, he’d be able to just reach out and grab our Quirks without any problem.”

...speaking of oddities, why was Dark Shadow acting as if Fumikage was the Quirk and not the originator? Or was he talking about the bird-shaped head he had? Because that was something they’d had since birth. For the moment, Fumikage brought himself back to reality and out of the mental conversation to see that the group had gravitated to the new people. Going by the fact Midoriya was being introduced to her friend’s friends, they’d only just gotten there. Oh the man made it seem like he was doing this for everyone but there was one thing he caught on to even as the lone anti-social person here. This young man was focusing on Midoriya near exclusively. Which was a little odd, considering he had a group around him… but was it because he only had three girls to deal with, or was this man not good with crowds? Fumikage wondered about that as he nodded on being introduced.

“Much as I’d enjoy staying, I do have to get these three and their bags back to Chaldea. Even college students get curfews and we don’t want to chan--”

“HOLY CRAP!” Ashido had interrupted Tamashiro’s explanation as she saw the bags being held by each of the young women. “Aren’t these real expensive?! How’d you afford to pay for all their stuff, dude?” The purplette squeaked as her bag was almost peeked in, holding it close with a red face while the pinkette laughed some, the blonde looking quite unconcerned with everything. “And why? If you’re that Takehiko I heard about, shouldn’t you have a girlfriend already?”

Takehiko nodded. “I didn’t pay for all these, actually. I could have but Frances was too proud to accept it and Artoria… got too much for me to justify. But Medusa did let me pay for her things.”

The crowd of U.A. students, all purely Japanese even if they weren’t quite looking the part, paused at that. Izuku knew that other countries had different attitudes regarding first names as they called them, and these girls likely came from those. The others were quite surprised, having not expected Takehiko to be on such good terms with these people to be so comfortable with their names. Mina grinned as she looked between them, Ochako a little embarrassed for them but curious all the same, Denki curious how he’d get to join in that sort of thing, and Fumikage thought his classmates were silly to give this such importance.

Takehiko, now used to his foreign friends and how they liked to be addressed even when talking in Japanese, missed how the others reacted at first. Izuki was a little jealous, but squashed that thought quickly. Izuku just nodded as the groups started to split apart. “I’ll see you for training again in a few days?”

“Sure. Depending on how much my limbs aren’t screaming once Chaldea is out for the day.” As he walked with the trio of girls away from the mall, Takehiko glanced at them from the corner of his eye. While Medusa was still protective of her bag, Frances seemed like she wanted to learn more but kept the questions to herself for now. Artoria was in her own little world it seemed, but she’d come out if anything were to come out of her mouth. “Little surprised you were both talked into getting thos--”

Medusa and Frances both moved forward, slapping their hands over his mouth with varying redness in their cheeks. “Ya don’t need to bring that up, sailor! Shut yer piehole afore I do it for ya!” The pinkette was the one able to actually speak, even if she did revert to her heavily accented English. “Let’s get goin’, I don’t wanna stick around where anyone can just peek their eyes into me things without my knowing.”

Takehiko just chuckled as Medusa grabbed Artoria’s arm and hurried the short blonde up. It wasn’t long before they were stepping off the train and headed back to Chaldea’s dorms. Much as he wanted to go with them, Takehiko had other things to do tonight. And rules said he couldn’t anyway.

  
  


“Tomura Shigaraki. How does it feel?” A man made of black mist, lined in purple smoke with yellow eyes inside a metal collar, watched as his ward stretched out his arms. “The new arms may not have the same scars or marks as your old ones, but they will be more durable against explosions.”

The young man with light-blue hair scowled a little at his clenching fists. “That Berserker won’t know what hit him next time I get in close. Or that Monk! How was he able to keep up with Nomu and nearly kill it with help from that Cryomancer?! It was supposed to be more powerful than All Might at his prime! You told me so, Kurogiri!”

Kurogiri nodded. “Indeed. But after All Might ruined the lab in the mountains along with that hero raid a few years ago, our data may have been a little off. The good Doctor only had so many scraps to work with when it came to anything besides the Nomu themselves.”

Tomura ground his teeth together. At least they were able to keep a copy of the healing Quirk they’d put in that Nomu, low quality though it was after the split. And with Sensei in Tartarus, thanks to that same raid, getting more Quirks to copy was impossible. And the original All for One Quirk was gone too, the most important thing the Doctor could have saved but left to rot. All because he cared more about the Nomu than Sensei’s power! Now he needed to level up his normal Quirk instead of being powerleveled like Sensei once said he would be. But that was fine. He could turn anything to dust with a full grip, and Tomura was pretty fast too. He’d been so sure that he was faster than that Monk too, but the guy had managed to dodge his attack and save that frog bitch too. Looking at the photo he’d had Kurogiri grab, Tomura growled to himself. “Izuku Midoriya… You’re going to wish you weren’t born when I’m done with you!”

  
  


In the office of the Number 1 Pro Hero in Japan, Endeavor scowled to himself. According to the reports he’d gotten, he was likely to lose his spot to that upstart Hawks this year. Three years of having the position he’d coveted for so long, and someone else came up to try and take his throne?! No. He needed something to show that Hawks wasn’t the best choice for this spot in the Rankings. But what? His youth wasn’t an issue anymore, and the current Number 2 was certainly popular with the younger generation in a way he would not be able to replicate.

As he turned the thought over in his head, Endeavor looked out the window of his giant office. Perhaps it would be alright to go back to being Number 2 again. He had made Shoto to take the top himself, and he’d likely manage it earlier than Hawks himself. Heh. A grin crossed his face, the fiery beard and mustache curling along with it as Endeavor came to his decision.

He’d already seen he couldn’t win against All Might. But if he was able to go back and forth with Hawks as to who held the Top Spot until his son was old enough to take it for himself, that suited him fine. Now was the time to look for someone who would be able to keep his lineage strong through Shoto. Or maybe he could take a play from the book of that old geezer Kazanari… no. Not for his masterpiece. But Natsuo wasn’t serious with anyone. He’d make up for his second son’s lacking and fix what he’d done wrong. Now should he find someone else with an ice Quirk similar to Rei’s or just play off the eventual Hellflame successor as just strong genetics…

  
  


Tsukasa Kadoya looked out over Tokyo, standing on the balcony of his office. “...is this world really worth not Destroying? I’m always so sure one day, and then I’m unable to see another. What could be the deciding factor to make it truly stick…” Decision unsteady again, he kept watch over his home.


	9. Carnivals and Cameras

Takehiko looked up from his textbook as he heard some shoes walk closer to him. Nope, no one stopping to say hi. Man, why was he like this? He’d never done anything like that during high school, or middle school. Itsuka just plopped down next to him when she was free. Nothing special about it. Well, there was time to adjust. He just had to remember his friends had their own schedules here. The only ones that really coincided with his own were Medusa and Frances in the morning and all three of them for lunch. After that, he was on his own.

“Well you look lonely.” Amber eyes came up to see who said that. Standing in front of him was a young man with green hair bundled into a low ponytail. Takehiko nearly thought this was a woman, but the voice wasn’t quite androgynous enough for that. Almost, but not quite. “Why’re you by yourself?”

He shrugged. “All my other friends are in classes and mine don’t resume for… forty minutes.” He sat up straight, nodding to the other man. “Nice to meet you. I’m Takehiko.”

“I’m Clay. Pleasure to meet you, Takehiko-san. Mind if I sit here?” After getting the okay, Clay sat next to him and put down his own bag. “Thanks. Now we can both pretend we’re sitting with friends for a bit.”

Takehiko hummed at that. “I can appreciate that.” He went back to his book, glancing at what Clay was reading. “The Epic of Gilgamesh?”

Green-gold eyes lit up as Clay turned to look at him. “Indeed! I’m basing my Pro Hero name off of his only friend. I usually read this again once every couple of weeks. Takes a few days to get through it if I have other obligations, but still.”

The future King nodded, shifting his sitting position as he glanced from the book to its reader. “I only read it once. Definitely not someone to emulate if you want to have a successful rule at the start, but his mistakes are good to know. Keeps us from doing the same, or at least reminds you that people made the same mistakes then and now.”

Clay laughed at that. “True enough that! I don’t think I’ve heard that perspective before. You’ve got other plans than Pro Heroism?”

“I do.” Takehiko held up his Ridewatch. “I’ll always be one, seeing as I’m a Kamen Rider. But I won’t be focusing on it my whole life. I’ll be running for political office after a good few years protecting people. Got a political major too.”

The greenet nodded at that, sharing his own plans… which amounted to most of the other plans that were already set in stone here. To be a Pro Hero. Clay didn’t have any other ideas for what to do “But I bet things will come up when I really give it a thought. Y’know?”

The newest Rider chuckled. “I do, kinda. It took a bit before I had my plan to be Prime Minister truly set.” Well, to be King. But he had to be Prime Minister first. And keep on being voted Prime Minister, unless something happened that let him enact some sort of plan to let him stay in office for years. But that was a dream scenario… and probably not one he’d have reached anyway if that time he spent in the future was still true. “But until I’m old enough to run for office, I have to get my money somehow. And being Zi-O is my main career for the next… twenty-some years.”

Clay nodded at that. It was a good plan so far. “What are you using for gear besides that? I know you Masked Riders all have something to change. Some uh… some phone thing, right?”

“...belts. The main component of a Kamen Rider is our belt. I have mine on at all times, right here.” Takehiko tapped his belt buckle, which had the little logo of the kanji for Kamen on it. “Gotta be ready to deal with monsters whenever they appear.”

That got Clay’s attention. “Monsters? Don’t you mean Villains?”

Takehiko shook his head. “Monsters. Some of them are Villains, but not all Villains are monsters. And most of the time, monsters that come from people aren’t willing transformations. Take the Yummy awhile back, or the Smash last year. Hibiki and the other Oni are still fighting Makamou to this day. Those aren’t people, but still. They aren’t people.”

Clay slowly shook his head, eyes wide in disbelief. “...maybe I shouldn’t have asked to come out here…”

That got Takehiko to laugh. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. They aren’t a daily thing like the average Villain or petty criminal.”

Talking with Clay had been fun, Takehiko thought as he exited the Chaldea campus. His female friends hadn’t known the American student before today in any detail. But now it seemed they all had someone else to talk to in the dorms. Meanwhile, the Japanese student brought out his phone. A message from Haruto Soma? That was new.

...huh. Now why would Wizard want to meet him at a carnival coming into town this weekend? Still, it wasn’t like he couldn’t have fun after… but who to ask to join? Going by himself for business and then playing by himself would be a little sad. Stepping onto the train car, he glanced around while putting his phone away. Setsuna rarely had time on the weekends as she normally used that for training. His Chaldea friends may have enjoyed experiencing a traveling Japanese carnival, but Takehiko didn’t want to play chaperone.

As he stepped off the train, he smiled on seeing the only person living nearby without needing his Ridestriker. “Hey there, Izuku-kun. How’re you today?”

The fluffy green-haired student nodded. “I’m well. We had some weird news though.” Takehiko made a curious noise at that. “The Sports Festival is going to happen a little earlier this year. Since it is U.A.U., I’m going to be putting in a lot of training to get a good standing.”

Takehiko grinned. “I can believe that. I wish you luck! ...before you start seriously working out though,” Izuku looked up at him curiously, “want to go visit a carnival with me this weekend? I’ve got a business appointment at one, cause older Riders are weird.”

Izuki fiddled a little with her sleeve cuff at that. Did she want… yes. Yes yes. A hundred times yes. “Wh-what time?” As Takehiko checked his phone, she tried to think of the cutest things she had. DID she have cute things?! Izuki had shopped for some cute things before but were they cute enough for a date? Oh no WAS this a date?! Maybe she shoul--”Yes, tha-that works. Can you send me a calendar reminder just to be safe?”

Taking him back to her place was not an option she’d go for. Not right now.

Takehiko fiddled a little with his phone before hitting send. “And that’s a reminder sent. Good idea, Izuku-kun. Wanna keep going to your place, or are we splitting here?” The greenette froze at that, and looked around slowly. Did she not notice that they were already at the crossing? Weird. “You okay?”

Izuki nodded quickly. “Ye-yeah. Um. We’re okay to split here. My mom actually isn’t hom-me right now. So I gott-tta go!”

Scratching his head at the girl using her inherited Quirk to speed away from him, Takehiko was pretty sure he was very far from understanding girls of any age still. Well, speaking of moms, he had to return to his own. Family dinner night. He wondered how Uncle Juni was taking to his new job as a repairman at the Rider Base?

Arriving at the carnival with Izuki in tow, Takehiko took his helmet off as he looked around. “Man, a lot of people here. Who hasn’t heard about this place?”

Hopping off the Ridestriker after removing herself from his back, Izuki shook her head. “Dunno. This is the first I’ve heard of it. But I also, uh… tend to focus on other things whenever the news comes on.”

Smirking at the greenette as he put his helmets and the Ridestriker away into the Bikewatch, Takehiko smirked a bit at her. “You mean Hero news?” She blushed a little, glancing down and fiddling with the hem of her hoodie at that while he laughed some. “Nothing wrong with that. Also, you’re looking good, Izuki-san. Why the dress-up?”

He was curious what reason she had to wear a skirt that barely covered her thighs and a hoodie today. Her legs, those strong looking limbs that brought about great speed when Izuki focused her Quirk, were on full display since her socks were only ankle high and her big red shoes were about the same. The hoodie just fell over her like a blanket now, but on the ride over, Takehiko had felt two very soft objects pushed into his back as she held on. He’d never seen Izuki without a binder on before, so this was certainly an interesting day already.

Izuki brought her arms behind herself, swaying on her feet a little. “No reason. Today is just… the once a week I let myself dress girly. Can’t go too far from it, right?” Hopefully she had no reason to take off the hoodie later. The tanktop she had originally only planned to come in had given away too much info about her bra after she’d checked in the mirror. Why was the material so darn thin her yellow underwear could be seen?! “Come on, let’s get going! The sooner you talk to him, the sooner we can have fun!”

While he was nodding, Izuki grabbed his hand and tugged him into the carnival. Neither of them let on what they thought of that, but she was quite happy when Takehiko’s fingers wrapped around her hand in return.

For all that he was here on business, there were a few things Takehiko wanted to do first. One of those was stopping by a booth that Izuki had looked longingly at. He had no reason to just let her feel bad about not getting a thing. “Alright, which one do you want?” The fluffy-haired girl tried to deny it but he shook his head. “I saw your gaze. Which one?”

Looking around the stall to stall for time, Izuki didn’t want to just have it given to her… so she stepped up, asking for a game. Takehiko was able to pay for that, citing it a team effort. That got her to chuckle a little before Izuki picked up the first of three baseballs handed to her. She had to knock down all of the bottles to get what she wanted. Most of them went down in one go, except the left corner. The second ball grazed the bottle, which made it jiggle a little. Narrowing her green eyes, the girl drew her arm back slowly. Takehiko watched, curious how she’d correct in just one shot.

Then her arm came forward quickly, and the last remaining bottle was sent to the floor. The thrower cheered, jumping once for joy as a small crowd of watchers clapped. The stall owner did as well, inviting Izuki to choose her prize. And after a few seconds, the pair were walking away from the game stall, Izuki hugging her newest acquisition of Hero merchandise: A giant plush Kamen Rider Zi-O. And for all he wanted to make fun of her about him being right next to her, there was something about this chibi version of his Rider Suit that was just so huggable looking. Going by the giggling occasionally coming from his companion, Takehiko bet she had the exact same thoughts.

After a few more minutes walking, Takehiko and Izuki arrived at the area Haruto had said he wanted to meet up at: The food truck area. And there was the pink truck with a giant donut on it. But no man in a leather duster, not that he could see anyway. “I’m gonna go get a donut. You want anything?”

“I’ll have a chocolate glaze please!”

Nodding, he went to order. At least the line was short. As he stepped up to the window and nodded to the woman with very high blonde hair running the Donut Shop truck, Takehiko looked over the menu as she pitched him a new creation. “I think I will try that Orange Donut, and I also need a chocolate glazed one please.”

Handing over the yen needed, he accepted a paper plate with the two donuts with a smile. Turning to let the one behind him step up, he paused as the owner’s voice gave voice to who it was. “Haruto-kun! How good to see you again! What can I get you tod--”

“Plain sugar.”

“--ay oh of course. When will you ever order anything else?!”

Takehiko turned to see that his senior Rider was indeed the one who’d stepped up behind him. As the manager grumbled, she still got him two donuts as asked. Haruto paid with a smile before turning to the younger Rider. “Hello. Glad to see you have good taste in donut trucks. Come on, let’s talk. After you give your date that donut.”

Shrugging, the amber eyed young man stopped by Izuki, since apparently Haruto wanted to talk alone. That got a frown from her, but a bite into her donut whisked that away easily. As Takehiko sat with the magic user, he started on his donut covered in orange slices. And it was pretty good too! “So, you’re probably curious why I called you here.” Nodding to Haruto, he was certainly glad to hear details. And then a Ridewatch was put on the table. “You’re doing pretty well as a Kamen Rider. I’ve heard you’re keeping the hopes of the people up when you can and from what I’ve seen myself, despair is certainly something you don’t let stand.” That statement was followed with a small smile as he tilted a donut at Takehiko in a salute. “Which is why I’m quite happy to hand this to you.”

Picking up the Wizard Ridewatch, he looked at it for a few seconds before placing it in a pocket. “Thank you. I promise, I won’t let you down, Haruto-senpai.”

The older man chuckled. “I’m sure you won’t. Now go back to your date, enjoy the carnival. I’m gonna be heading out.”

Rolling his eyes a little, Takehiko moved back to the table where Izuki had set herself and the plush Zi-O down. “Oh, am I interrupting?”

Izuki turned to him, confused for a moment before being amused. “Indeed! I was just telling Zi-O-san here what my day has been like. And how my friend left me, all alone, to go talk with some old man.” She brought a hand up, faking a sniff as Takehiko nodded. “How ever will I forgive him?”

“Weeeelllll what if he let you have a bite of his donut?” Takehiko held out the donut, which still had some orange slices on top of it. Though besides that, it was just a glazed donut. A very good glazed donut, but nothing special besides that. Which had been a bit of a surprise after he bit into it.

And then there were less orange slices as Izuki enthusiastically took him up on that, her own chocolate one devoured while he was with Haruto. She hummed in thought as she chewed and swallowed. “...alright, you’re forgiven. That’s good!”

“Indeed. Anything else you want to do? I’m free the rest of today, so we can play anything you want.” The greenette certainly did want to enjoy the carnival, carrying her plush Zi-O with no embarrassment at all. After a bit, she started just carrying it over her shoulder since most of the games needed one arm free to move, if not both somehow. They collected many smaller prizes, seeing as Izuki was in it for the fun of the games instead of wanting more than a representation of her friend that she could snuggle without looking weird in public. As the carnival was winding down though, Takehiko suggested they go see a show being put on. “Something to do with fire and chains, sounds fun.”

Nodding and a little curious herself, Izuki let him lead her by the hand, seeing as she’d gotten a little carried away with things to hold and blocked her own vision some. After a few seconds though, they were sitting in the sparse crowd of people here to watch the man touting himself as ‘Konyaku the Great’. They took up some seats with all the plush and boxes of sweets they’d collected over the day. As the man who named himself after alcohol came out on stage in a fairly standard magician’s outfit without an assistant, Takehiko felt like he was missing something important. But the first few minutes of the show calmed him down as something… fairly mediocre was on display. He stifled a yawn and turned to ask Izuki if she wanted to go before Konyaku decided to ask something that got a lot of attention from the people in attendance.

“You heard right! I’d like all the ladies in the audience under forty to stand up and come on stage. This next trick is best done with some help, but I’ve no assistant, so I’d like you all to see how this is done upclose so we can get it done to all of our pleasure!” Konyaku grinned at them. While some women obviously said no, there were a few who decided to go with it just in case it was fun. Takehiko shifted his legs to let Izuki walk by, the fluffy greenette curious what was about to happen. Once the stage was filled a little more, the magician nodded at the ten or so girls on it. “Thank you, ladies. Now then, ladies and gents, remaining…” The man reached inside his jacket, pulling something from an inner pocket. “Bye bye.”

Takehiko straightened up as a deep and distorted voice called out  **“Wizard!”** , cursing as he stood up himself. Unlike the others that started screaming once Konyaku slammed the Anotherwatch into his chest and became a monster with a ring extending out from his head, he was ready to fight… but there were too man--oh wait. He had the perfect tool for this now. But as he got ready, the youngest Rider saw that all the women on stage were now being wrapped up with chains that sprang from the ground. The only one trying to get out was Izuki, but apparently these chains were stronger than she could break out of. The green lightning that covered her form brought attention to her though, along with how the chains flattened the sweater against her.

“Oh hoh! You’re a good lookin’ one. I think I’ll have some fun with you first~” Another Wizard’s voice was grinning even if his voice didn’t seem to. She gave him a glare, quite able to guess what he meant and not liking it. He brought his hand to his belt to ready another spell before something else rang out from the seats. “What the hell?!”

Smirking up at him, Takehiko spun the Zikuu Driver. “Henshin.” A clock rang out as his belt brought out the Armor he’d be wearing.  **“RIDERRR TIIIME! KAMEEEEN RIDERRR** **_ZI-O!_ ** **ARRRMOR TIIIIME!”** There were a couple drum hits before what sounded like Wizard’s spell activation came from the Driver.  **“Please.** **_WIZ-ARRRD!_ ** **”** Wearing his new rather bulky cloak-like armor, Zi-O waved his hands to get the right spell out, helpfully announced by the Wizard Ridewatch.  _ “Erase!” _

The ladies on stage stumbled as the chains binding them broke apart, Izuki quick to give the Another Rider a strong kick from behind before he could do more. It sent him flying out into the stands where  _ “Bind!” _ chains sprung up from magic circles to bring him down to the ground. Another Wizard gave some grunts as the man in a red cloak tried to free himself from the chains. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go, not during his debut show! This copycat wasn’t supposed to be here, he was supposed to make a clean getaway with all those girls! “Bastard. Get your own schtick, min--”

“Was stolen. I don’t think you have much room to stand, so to speak.” Takehiko smirked under his helmet before he hit the buttons on top of the Ridewatches.  **“Finish Time!** **_WIZARD!_ ** **”** Slowly floating up on another magic circle, flames jumped from the circle to envelop Zi-O in various curving ways. They all collected at his feet, forming yet another circle, this one centered on his foot. Bringing his leg up, he posed as if he was about to fall and kick the downed Another Wizard. Instead, his foot and leg went through the magic circle which was apparently the Big spell, as the ladies on stage were treated to the first ever sight of a giant limb from Kamen Rider Zi-O as it went down, almost stomping the Another Rider. He was sent flipping once an explosion rang out, but with his leg normal again as the spell canceled, the newest Rider landed gracefully. Looking to the stage, he waved to one girl in specific, seeing as Izuki was cheering for him quite enthusiastically. Turning to Konyaku, he took off the WizardArmor before kneeling down. The magician was groaning in pain, a little roughed up but still fine. What was picked up next was the remnants of the Anotherwatch, which made Takehiko frown behind his mask. How were these being made, or distributed? And why? “This thing is going to give me headaches, I just know it…”

Standing up, Zi-O looked around. “Anyone call the police?” A few of the girls on the stage looked around frantically before one of the women waved a hand, saying she had. “Thank you! I only need one of you for this, since you all experienced the same thing. Go have a good day, maybe scold the people that left you here once he transformed.”

He smirked as some of them went to do just that, stomping despite their calm faces or very openly showing their unhappiness with their partners. Izuki bounded over to him, smiling up at Zi-O. “Hey. Thanks.” Clasping her hands behind her back, it seemed the greenette didn’t realize that her hoodie was still mostly conforming to her torso, something Takehiko was grateful and debating with himself over. “Wish I could’ve done more to help, but those chains… I thought I was strong, but they kept me from doing anything.”

As she frowned, he shook his head. “They were magically made. Probably could’ve handled Mount Lady at full size, or All Might a few years ago.” He tapped his chin. “...for a few minutes, at least. But you weren’t struggling for a few minutes, eh?”

That mollified Izuki, since she hadn’t been given the chance to try. But now she had an idea for something to try.

  1. Want to try tying me up?
  2. I want your chains around me.
  3. I’d bust your chains. Then you could bust my cher



AUGH NO WHY BRAIN

THIS DAMN VIRUS… maybe she should tell him about it soon. Izuki brought her arms forward, clasping her hands in front of her skirt as she thought. With her gaze aimed down, she missed how Zi-O stiffened a bit in front of her. After all, Izuki wasn’t looking at the world as it was. Else she would definitely have noticed how her arms had squeezed her chest… and then probably make it worse when she stiffened up in fear herself but that didn’t happen yet. Their attentions were taken away from her once a police officer arrived. Zi-O held up the broken Anotherwatch, talking to the officer as he stepped off of Konyaku and let him be handcuffed.

After Izuki corroborated the story, they were left alone as the police went to do their work. Takehiko put his Ridewatch away, and sighed as he turned to his friend. “Come on. Let’s get going home, I don’t think I can handle being out for tonight much longer.”

The greenette nodded, and looked around before rushing towards her Zi-O plushie. After a quick count, she was pleasantly surprised no one had taken their things. He just chuckled as they started leaving the carnival, walking behind Izuki for a moment before moving up next to her.

Those hips were hypnotic and he doubted she realized it!

Takehiko tilted his head curiously as he saw some reporters scattered around Chaldea’s gates. A few of the teachers were keeping them back, the cameras and microphones and badges not giving them any good reasons to answer. “Pardon me. ‘Scuse me. Got classes to get to. Pardon… Sorry!” He could have just stopped time and slipped through them all, but he didn’t want to be rude. But what they were calling for finally entered his ears. They wanted to talk to Kamen Rider Zi-O? “Now what did Tsukasa say about the media…”

He visualized the leader of the Rider Base, standing in his suit and lowering his camera after taking a picture of something that caught his interest.  _ “You don’t talk to reporters. You talk around them to the people at home. But that’s when you’re a full-fledged Rider and not a college student. Until you graduate, barring special circumstances, you don’t talk to the media for any reason. And don’t put any selfies of you in your Rider Suit on personal social media either. You’ll get lessons about handling people on the street later.” _

Considering he hadn’t gotten those lessons yet, it was probably something he’d get from Chaldea or Tsukasa himself just couldn’t be assed to do it. Either were probable. Takehiko slipped through the last of the reporters, and started walking. Glancing to his right, he saw that Victory Queen had left the line of teachers keeping things normal on campus. “You handled last weekend pretty well, so I’m told.”

He nodded to the redhead teacher. “It seems so. Glad I kept my mask on, cause I don’t know what might have happened if someone saw me on the way here.” Takehiko chuckled before tilting his head curiously. “That can’t be all though.”

Victory Queen smiled and shook her head. “Right now it is. Can you come by my office during lunch? We can talk and eat.” After he acquiesced, Boudicca nodded. “I’ll see you then.”

Takehiko waved to the woman in a white dress and red skirt before he went to his first class. Time to learn some more about Japan’s political history! It wasn’t often he was excited for lectures about the past, but Kojiro-sensei was pretty engaging. And unlike the girls that took the course because he was hot, the newest Rider was just enthralled by his storytelling. Maybe he’d practice copying the man’s more refined speech patterns? ...nah. He talked too modernly for a change like that in only some instances. But having the right words for politics was certainly helpful.

Once he’d stopped over by his friends and told them he’d needed to see a professor, the girls were less than pleased but bid him a good talk. Artoria’s comment about having protection was met with Medusa’s head turning into a steamed bun while Frances laughed at their shorter compatriot. Was the purplette’s dirty mind a recent corruption or just how she’d been and had never let others see before? Takehiko didn’t know but he’d talk to Boudicca first. Best to get business out of the way. Closing the door behind, he looked to his liaison. “Good afternoon, Boudicca-sensei. What’s going on?”

She waved a fork at the chair opposite her desk. The amber-eyed young man took out his mother’s creation for today, a sandwich that had a good few fillin’s and smelled delicious right out the bag. That made the woman stop for a second, scenting his meal, before she chuckled and started to cut into her gyro again. “Sometimes, Chaldea likes to bring students in during the summer vacation so that they can earn some bonus credits. Not many get that opportunity. For normal students, we’d offer this to you closer to those dates but as you’re Kamen Rider Zi-O, there’s another opportunity that I’ll need you to choose between. Because besides supplementary lessons, your Rider Base is also sponsoring your ticket to the I-Expo this year. And that is certainly no small thing, I believe you know well.”

Takehiko had been eating fairly normally while listening. But when he heard that he’d be going to  _ I-Expo _ on the Base’s ticket… holy crap! He nearly swallowed the bite into his lungs, but only coughed for half a minute before getting his breathing under control again. “I-Expo? On I-Island? The place where the world’s greatest minds congregate to make advances in Pro Heroics and the world as a whole?!” His finger came up, pointing at his head. “And I get to go there?! ...sorry, sensei, but uh…”

“I thought that’d be the case.” Boudicca shrugged. “It isn’t too surprising. We don’t know how often you’ll be going after all. Thank you for a prompt answer though, I’m glad you know what you want to do so soon.” She smiled at Takehiko and tilted her head, sending a light wave through her long red hair. “But for the sake of school solidarity, is there anything that we can do for you to keep you here over summer, Tamashiro-san?”

She missed the way his eyes bounced downward while she took a bite of her gyro. “Don’t think so, sensei. But if I hear something from Tsukasa about what I’m doing and I don’t wanna go through with it, I’ll let you know.”

From there, the two ate and talked about other things. Takehiko was certainly amused when he heard some of the stories Boudicca had about her three daughters growing up, but there wasn’t time to hear too much. After all, they both had classes to get to. As they went their separate ways out of the office building, the blue-eyed woman thought some on the situation she was in. Perhaps he could help? It wouldn’t hurt to ask after I-Island, right? ...nodding to herself, she resolved to do that. There was still plenty of time to figure this out herself. No need to hand it off to someone else yet.

Izuki poked her head into Recovery Girl’s office, slipping in quietly. Walking over, she adjusted how her pants sat on her hips before standing in front of the old nurse. “Hello, Recovery Girl. I uh… I have something to ask you about.”

The old woman rose an eyebrow, hearing the freckled student go from ‘boku’ to ‘atashi’. This was going to be an interesting one, she thought. “Go on then, dearie. I’ll help if I can.”

Gulping, the latest One for All holder rubbed her arm. “Well, y’see, before school started, I was uh. I was one of the people caught up in that weird Lovelica copy incident. And I think I have Game Disease. But none of the normal symptoms are showing up in me. Which is weird because my life is basically stress incarnate, so…”

That got Chiyo to rub her chin. “Game Disease? That happened not so long ago… I’m surprised you haven’t been turned into a Bugster in this case. Hm. Come here, let’s see if I can’t figure out what’s going on.” She led Izuki to a machine that would scan the girl for Game Disease, still in use at university hospitals even though Game Disease had become so rare in everyday life now. Some cases of rogue Bugsters still popped up but they were much less prevalent ever since Kuroto and Masamune Dan died. Snipe and Brave usually handled things, but she heard Ex-Aid, Paradox and Poppy still helped from time to time. But the first and last were usually too busy being a pediatrician and his assistant while the other was more like a layabout than anything. At least from what she’d seen of that Original Bugster. Bringing her focus back to the computer, she skimmed the info about Izuki Midoriya’s body, which was still quite healthy except for the thing she said she had. “You do have Game Disease. I’ve never seen this kind though… You’ll need to consult CR or the Rider Base directly, Midoriya-chan. They’ll be better equipped.”

It was a moment’s work to get the relevant data printed and held out to the greenette. “And you’ll also need to take that binder off soon, because you’re running close to your time limit today.” Izuki nodded, blushing some as she folded the paper and put it inside her bag. “I’ll see you later, Midoriya-chan. Just let me know when you’re ready and I can hit a button to change your file.”

“Thanksbutthatisn’tneededtodayI’llseeyouaroundRecoveryGirlbye!” Chiyo chuckled as Izuku headed out of the infirmary. With classes finished today, he sighed as he set his shoulders. Izuku hummed a little tune as he walked into the evening sun. Glancing around, it seemed no one was looking for him. That would make it easier to head out for… “I wonder if he’s at the Rider Base today?”

“Who’s at the Rider Base, Deku-kun?” He didn’t squeak, but the freckled Hero-in-training did stiffen as a feminine voice reached his ears. “And are you okay? I’ve never seen you go into the infirmary without wounds…”

Izuku turned to the girl with coconut-brown hair in a curved inward bob. “I’m alright, Uraraka-san, don’t worry. Just wanted to check with Recovery Girl about something I realized at home last night. And, uh, I have a friend at the Rider Base. He’s just, uh, that guy we met at the mall. Takehiko-kun.” That got the brunette with a permanent blush to look at him curiously. “Wwwwwhhhyyyyy are you looking at me so intently?”

That got Ochako to stop leaning forward. “Oh! Sorry. Just thought that you never say anything much about him. Why does he work at the Rider Base? That’s super cool!” She clapped her hands together quietly. “Does he work with Rashin-kun?”

Izuku chuckled a little bit. For all U.A.U. was one of the greatest Pro Hero colleges in the world, the people here were still not only in this for the sake of becoming Pro Heroes. So Ochako and Rashin starting to date before things got too busy wasn’t too weird. Though it had been a surprise, especially when Takehiko had mailed her about wanting advice because he’d never been approached for advice before and his first thought had been HER of all people. Izuki had gone to her mom for help with that. Thankfully, things worked out. Izuku just shrugged a bit. “Don’t know. Takehiko-kun doesn’t talk much about what he has planned for Hero work.” Ochako nodded at that before looking at Izuku intensely again. As if she’d just thought of something. “...you have something very important or very silly in mind.”

“Why do you say Hero work instead of Pro or Pro Hero work?” That got green eyes to blink in surprise. “I’m going to be a Pro Hero to help people and support my folks, but you’ve never said you’ll be a Pro Hero. You’ve only ever said you’ll be the best Hero you can be, Deku-kun.”

Intense, but something that Izuki smiled about answering. After all, it was a topic she held close to her heart. “Well, I don’t want to get into this just for the fame, like some of the people Stain has gone after. I want to save people with a smile, reassure them that everything is fine. Like All Might used to!” The smile she gave Ochako nearly blinded the brunette, even if her arms didn’t come up to block out the brightness that her friend was giving off. “Sure, the money will be nice to help make mom’s life easier, but I’m not going to be content with just a high ranking. I’m going to be the greatest Hero I can be!”

That got a smile out of Ochako. After all, she’d heard an abbreviated version of this during some ice breakers they’d both been at. But Ochako was glad to hear a fuller version. “Good luck, Deku-kun! And good evening, I gotta go see Rashin-kun!”

Waving to the running brunette, Izuku hummed as he realized he still needed to go to… Would it be a bad idea to mail Takehiko and ask for his help getting to the right room? While he was walking off campus, his thumb had moved a few things and by the time he was waiting for the train to come, Izuku had half a message typed out. Figuring it wouldn’t hurt, she focused and wrote before stepping onto the train. The greenette stood next to the little glass divider that separated a door from the seats, eyes glossing over the people on the train. There were some interesting looking Quirks on display, and that was just the people she could see who were Mutants or were using their Quirks for a bit of practice while no one would report them. And for all her aspirations, or her former Quirklessness, Izuki wasn’t going to make a big deal about someone making a tiny tornado on their finger when it wasn’t harming anyone and a kid across from the salaryman was looking at it in awe. Considering no giant winds were being pushed around and she could breathe fine, what kind of energy did he use to make a visible tornado that while tiny still likely could suck things into it? There had to be some training behind that, but the man seemed pretty laidback. Or at least very used to doing this on trains, though what that meant she wasn’t sure.

Izuki perked up as her last station came by, and she realized she hadn’t even looked at her phone. Stepping out, she figured it’d be best to try reading any new messages once she was out of the crowd. A little away from the turnstile, it seemed Takehiko had not been planning to go tonight but he’d be happy to drive her there since he did have some business to take care of anyway. With a pep in her step, Izuki grinned as she saw her friend. Walking towards him, she started to bring a hand up to greet him.

  1. Open shirt and flash him
  2. Make a peace sign and lick between it
  3. Wave hello
  4. Offer to ride him in return for letting her ride his bike



OF COURSE THREE AUGH WHY

Takehiko drove up to the train station, waiting for Izuki to arrive. He’d thought it an interesting request. Why would she need to see the… oh! Was she suffering from Game Disease even so long after? That was odd, but the Lovelica copy had been odd too. Maybe since it was a person rather than a Bugster there were some lingering effects. Well, he’d help her anyway. Showing her to Hojo-sensei was the least he could do.

As Izuki exited the station, he blinked before feeling something wash over him. Had time stopped for a second? No, less than a second. But it was still enough that he knew the gears of time had stopped without his say. That was weird… but it didn’t feel like it came from anywhere close by. Maybe someone else had just awakened to a time manipulation Quirk? That sounded interesting!

Waving back to the greenette, he wondered what that flash of annoyance on her face meant. But it faded as she came closer to him. “Ready to go?”

Nodding in answer, Izuki put on the helmet he handed her easily. “I am. Thank you, Takehiko-kun!” Climbing onto the Ridestriker, she wrapped her arms around him again. Her face was much closer now, considering her binder was on today. Well, as close as a helmet would allow, anyway. Still, it reminded her of last Sunday. That had been a fun time, barring the magic show gone awry.

The drive to the Rider Base wasn’t too long from the station, though Takehiko did have to ask some fans to back off. It was a lot rarer for people to recognize the almost chibi’d version of his mask on the Ridestriker but it did happen. He still wasn’t allowed to take selfies or sign autographs yet. That was a class next week, on his Chaldean schedule.

Walking into the tall building that had way too many basement levels, not that he could make jokes about that with Izuki, Takehiko led her to one of the rooms on the ground floor. Getting scanned for something was best done without entering a little metal box where you might spread it to others. Which also explained why the part of the Base they were going to was just a few steps away from the front door and desk. As he talked to the receptionist about her, Izuki glanced around. This was a pretty standard looking medical waiting room. Hopefully being scanned here wasn’t going to be too hard on her mom’s bank account.

Someone walked into the waiting room, unfamiliar to both students so they ignored him.

Turning back to her friend, Izuki was about to reach out for the clipboard with forms for her to fill out before her hand was grasped tightly. Jumping at the suddenness of it, she nearly called on One for All while looking to the man with a strong grip. “...how are you not a Bugster?”

That was not she expected out of a man with curly hair and a black jacket over his long-sleeved purple sweater. How was he not hot in that? “I’m sorry?”

Takehiko blinked at the man before a light went off in his head. “Parad! You’re Parad, the Original Bugster. I thought you were based out of Seito University?”

The Genius Gamer M ignored him, eyes locked on Izuki. “You’ve got so much of it inside you but it seems… weird.” He tilted his head. “Is this what happened when that weird copy of Lovelica appeared?”

Glancing between them, Takehiko was quite confused as Izuki gulped. “That’s… what I’m here to figure out.” It seemed the best course of action to be straight with the doctors and Bugster, or else they might miss something about her condition. “Co-could you let go? I need to sign in.”

Slowly, as if she’d disappear were he to go fast enough, Parad did. He kept an eye on the hiding girl and her friend as they sat down. Turning once they were going over the boring papers, the gaming Bugster went to be sure Emu was open for this. He’d be quite surprised at what had arrived. Heck, the most he could see of that person was a set of green eyes that stood out among the pink heads with various expressions, so Parad was surprised himself. He wondered if the placements meant anything, but they jiggled around so much he couldn’t tell a lot about them.

After a bit of heckling to get Emu to stop playing a game on the clock, the receptionist told her to go on through the door. As Izuki gets up, she pauses before looking at Takehiko. “You’ll be fine without me. I’m not the one who has the medical knowledge so go see the professional.” He stood up after speaking. “And besides that, I’ve got something to see to here myself.”

With that done and a promise to meet up at the front door once their respective meetings are over, they separate. Izuki glanced down at her shirt, debating taking off her binder, but she didn’t have a bra to swap it with right now. Maybe she should look into carrying one in case she started to wear it too long, like Recovery Girl had mentioned she was doing today. For the moment, she turned her gaze back up to find that she was getting close to the door the receptionist mentioned. Knocking on it, a male voice told her to come in. And inside was… quite a bit bigger than she expected. “Whoa…!”

Who thought that they’d be walking down some stairs to go to what looked like a giant karaoke machine outline over a complicated bed? Glancing back and forth, she saw that the doctor she’d be working with was at a desk near the machine with displays and keyboards on it. He’d been hidden by the stairway wall as she came down. “Um. Hello. I’m Izuki Midoriya, and um, I’m… I-I’m here to be scanned more thoroughly for Game Disease than U.A.U. could manage. Recovery Girl said to give thi-is to you?”

Emu took the papers she handed him, but his eyes were looking at and around Izuki. In front of her eyes, his red ones lost their glow and returned to normal as Parad stepped out of the pediatrician. “You see what I mean?”

Nodding, he glanced at the papers. “Yeah. And it seems Recovery Girl was right. Though I have to repeat Parad’s question, how are you not a Bugster yet?”

She wrung her hands at that. “Well, I… don’t know. My life is pretty stressful with college lectures and new people and old people and… things…” Izuki glanced aside which brought a light smile to Emu’s face. He wondered who brought that blush to her freckled cheeks? “So, wha-what do we do to fix me?”

“Well, nice to meet you, Midoriya-san. I’m Emu Hojo, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and on call from Seito to help with some cases of Game Disease that persist to this day. Thankfully, no one else has fallen victim to it this month and we’re making steady progress on reviving those lost to Kamen Rider Chronicle with help from doctors and Quirks.” That brought a different smile to Izuki’s face, the girl glad to hear such a serious occurrence was being fixed. “If you’d lay on the bed, I’ll scan you and we can figure things out from there. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.” The greenette put her bag down, and scuttled over to the bed before laying on it. Huh. More comfortable than she expected. Emu stood from the chair, tapping a few buttons on the side of the bed that started up a scanning apparatus. As it went over her, she was a little glad to not have taken her binder off. Even collapsed as gravity would make them inside her shirt, would she have fit under the scanner? As she listened to Emu quietly note some things about Izuki’s situation to himself, a thought popped up that maybe she sounded like this when doing some analysis on Quirks. Speaking of, what would Hojo-sensei’s Quirk be? Something to do with his immunity to the Bugster Virus maybe? Or was Parad something different, since all she had to go off of about him was that he was the Original Bugster as said by Takehiko. “Well, this is… certainly something. Tell me, Midoriya-san, what do you know about Toki Meki Crisis?”

That brought a deeper blush than earlier to her cheeks. “There are two versions of every game in the series. One for all ages and another that… isn’t. Both have the same storylines but the NC-17 versions includes scenes where the heroines have sex, sometimes with just the player character and sometimes with other people. The all ages editions cut those scenes but kept some of the consequences depending on player choice.”

Emu looked mildly impressed. “You’ve done some research. While I’d like to say activating a Game Area would help you and we could destroy the Bugster once it manifests, according to what I’m seeing, it would not come out. Especially since you waited so long to bring this to my attention, or anyone’s.” That made her blush become a little shame-faced. “Please don’t hesitate to let medical professionals know that something is going wrong in the future, Midoriya-san.”

“Yes sir…”

“Now then. You wouldn’t see a Bugster manifest from your body inside a Game Area because strictly speaking, there is no Bugster TO summon.” She looked at him curiously. “Considering the circumstances of your infection, and it being from a flesh and blood human that had the ability to mimic a distorted Lovelica’s appearance and powers, it seems you are… living Toki Meki Crisis right now. And the NC-17 one at that.” Emu held a hand up as she opened her mouth. “Do you know how to beat the game normally? It isn’t just getting through a storyline or having a heroine have sex with you. To beat Toki Meki Crisis, they need to say they love you as genuinely as your choices led up to and, in that version, THEN having sex with you the player. That’s the only way to get a Gold End in the routes.” The pediatrician crossed his arms. “And you are… apparently being infected by one such heroine. So you’ll need to find a boy, genuinely tell him you love him, and then have sex with him. That’s the only way to turn your body back to normal.”

Izuki felt herself start to shake, even as a fleeting thought went through her head. A name and face that she’d be seeing very soon. “...yo-you can’t just… do something Kamen Rider and fix me?”

Emu shook his head. “I may do something bad to you if we tried that. But don’t worry. From that smile, you seem to know how to fix this.” Bringing her hand up to her face, Izuki was surprised to feel a small smile on her lips. When did that happen? “Also, according to Recovery Girl’s notes here, you are approaching the limit for wearing a binder not just for the day but for continued physical health. If nothing else, you should figure out some way to get around this time limit if you don’t feel like wearing just a bra, Midoriya-san.”

Of all the things to tell a doctor… “Tha-ank you, Hojo-sensei. I’ll, um, I’ll take that under consideration.” After a few seconds of giggling at Parad bugging Emu about playing a game with him now that work was done, Izuki made her way upstairs. At least now she had some more info. And… the way to fix herself… How the heck would she even get him to notice a plain girl like her? Surely the looks she’d seen in the carnival were just Takehiko not being used to her wearing such an outfit, right?

For the moment, she’d just wait near the front door. It seemed Takehiko wasn’t done with his business yet. What could he be doing?

Leaving the infirmary area, Takehiko checked his phone for the time. Plenty of time to head up and catch Tsukasa. Walking into an elevator, he held up his Ridewatch to a scanner that normally only did eyes. But there were some items that could unlock certain floors, such as the one he was going to. Not just anyone could walk into the Rider Base Director’s office without an appointment, after all. One of the perks of being almost apprenticed to him. Though as the elevator went up, he wondered if the song being played was supposed to have vocals to it. Part of him thought it sounded familiar… oh well.

Exiting the elevator after a solid minute of upward movement, the newest Rider walked out to the only door in sight. He knew that Tsukasa had a full suite up here, but you could only get in via Aurora Curtain since he became Director. It was an odd form of security but it definitely kept people from getting sidetracked when they came up to see him. Knocking on the door, Takehiko didn’t have to wait long before being let in. “Hey there, Tsukasa. Learned something pretty cool today.”

The man who just wanted to photograph interesting things was currently spinning around in his very comfortable chair before stopping to look at his pupil. “Oh? I bet you won’t think so after saying it.”

Grinning some, the amber-eyed young man shrugged. “I dunno. Going to I-Expo this year still sounds pretty darn cool to me.”

Blinking at that in bemusement, Tsukasa lightly his head forehead with the heel of his hand. “Right. That. You and I are going to that as representatives of the Kamen Rider Base this year. Well, I’m representing us. You’re debuting on the world stage.” With a wiggle of his hand in the air, he shrugged. “Same difference.”

That got him to chuckle for a moment before Takehiko tilted his head. “Anything else about this I should know about before summer rolls around? I imagine this debut of mine isn’t just rolling up to a press conference or some giant banquet or something.”

Tsukasa clapped his hands with an amused smirk. “And you’d be right! You’ll be fighting against an opponent yet to be determined. Or at least revealed to me. Who knows, it may not be until after the fight has ended.” He grinned at Takehiko’s confused face. “I’m not going to babysit you so you’ll have to learn how to gather information for yourself at some point. You’re still a student so you have some time to figure out the best methods for you. I look forward to hearing about them.” That made some sense. “But besides the fight and a party at the Tower, you’ll be free to explore the Expo to your heart’s content.”

Takehiko was certain to enjoy what he could on I-Island. Who knew how often he’d get to go back?! Maybe he’d be able to find a cute engineer who’d be up to playing with him… “Oh, also, before summer, you’ve got an exercise with U.A.U.” The young man turned back to his mentor, looking at him curiously. “No definite date on it besides that it is happening, though I can bet it’ll be after most sports festivals are done. Lots of time between them and summer vacation after all.”

That certainly sounded fun! “Just me?”

“Just you. Mostly because the other new Riders of your generation are both enrolled at U.A. themselves.” That made sense. “This’ll be to see how well you can work with them and others outside your school. Victory Queen will tell you about the details if someone here doesn’t. Now shoo, I’ve gotta go see my publicist ab

out some licensing deals.” Twice in one day?! Who the heck was making time pause? Someone that only just figured out they could stop time, he bet. But Takehiko figured so long as nothing was happening in his view, there was nothing he could stop. Or start, depending on what all was going on…

For now, he bid his mentor farewell as he went back to the elevator. And once again, he figured the song playing as he went down needed some vocals over the music. Still, he left it after a boring ride. Oh, and there was Izuki near the front door. While he walked towards her, the greenette perked up on spying him. Though her face quickly turned red, and he was curious why. As she shook her head, Takehiko stepped up in front of her. “Ready to go?” With a short nod and sound of confirmation, the pair left. He almost asked if Izuki knew about the exercise he’d be taking part in, but he’d forgotten to ask Tsukasa if he was allowed to talk about that with other people. He’d hold on to it for now, a question over text would be fine. Atop the Ridestriker, Takehiko felt like something was a little different about how Izuki was holding him. He couldn’t quite put a pin on why though. Especially with the way it shifted before her arms ultimately went tight around his waist. Once they were in front of her apartment complex, he lifted his visor to look at her determined face curiously. “What’s up?”

“...the U.A.U. Sports Festival is in four days. You’ll watch me, right?”

Now that struck him as an unnecessary question. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

Izuki smiled at him. “Thank you. And thank you for the ride! I’l--mmh, I’ll see you around, Takehiko-kun.” With a wave, she turned to head up to her home, cheeks pink. He vaguely caught a mumble, maybe. But what it meant went over his head. “Darned list of options…”

Takehiko watched her until the greenette was up the stairs before revving up his bike to get going back home himself.

  
  


Izuki glanced down at herself, wondering if this… yeah. She’d already told Aizawa-sensei about it, and backing out now would make her a liar. That was not heroic at all! So as the various participants in the U.A.U. Sports Festival made their way to the giant stadium where everyone would compete, with freshmen starting things off today, the greenette figured this would be the right call. It’d be a little weird, saying goodbye to her binder today, but… it had to happen some time. And why not today? Putting it off any longer would just make it harder to do. After following a few signs, she found herself in a women’s locker room. And definitely not the first one there, seeing as some others were getting undressed to put their official tracksuits on. For a few moments, no one reacted to her presence. But after Izuki opened up a locker, that was when someone looked and recalled what she’d been presenting as for the last few weeks. She wasn’t worried though. After all, as Izuki took her shirt off even while the other women were threatening her, those voices quieted after they saw her slim but muscled torso, and the black band that kept her chest compressed.

With some practiced hands, she removed the binder and let out a breath of relief. “...holy moly, you were hiding those?!” Mina was gawking at her, currently clad in pants and a sports bra that did a poor job of hiding the fact she was blessed up top. Or so she’d thought before Momo, Ochako and now IZUKU of all people were here… Two of them she’d known for a while but WHAT

“Yeah, my mom says this is genetic.” Slipping her jeans off, the other girls wondered how much of her was genetic and how much was a lot of working out. Izuki put her sports bra on, which like most of the others would only barely keep her from bouncing, especially without her binder, but it definitely was better than nothing under the light shirt she was wearing next. Then she started to put on her tracksuit.

Kyoka looked down at her chest, then back up. Sure, she was happy with what she had… but did the world need to be so cruel to bring in another woman with udders? Ugh…

Tooru hummed as she tapped her invisible cheek. It was interesting to see that while Momo was certainly the one with the biggest bust, Izuku was probably the only one here that would be able to compete with the invisible woman for “nearest perfect hourglass shape.” What kind of contest would that be? Hopefully a fun one!

Ochako’s eyes went wide as she watched Izuku dress. Already set herself, some things that she’d seen and thought of finally clicked into place as making sense now. Sure, the other idea also made sense but  _ this _ … Now she knew how to finally classify all the things that hadn’t quite added up with her friend. Oh boy, maybe they could do double dates!

Tsuyu croaked as she looked around. “You might want to finish getting ready. And I doubt he… she? She, wants to be ogled much longer. If at all.” With that, the frog girl moved to finish her own prep. Which was just zipping up her tracksuit. “Do you always wear Zi-O merchandise, Midoriya-chan?”

Izuki grinned as she looked at Tsuyu. “Not always. But I found this yesterday and I couldn’t help myself. Also, uhm.” Looking at the others sharing this assigned dressing room, she bowed. “I’m sorry for deceiving you all for so long! My name is Izuki Midoriya, nice to meet you!”

Before the others could react, Cementoss’s voice came over the loudspeaker.  **“Would all participants please make their way to the stadium now?”** That drew the pinkette’s eyes around as the girls looked at her before she looked at herself. Squawking, she moved to put on her own shirt and jacket quickly. After all, it’d be bad form to show up with the girls hanging out even if she DID think they were a great sight.

And in a few minutes, Izuki was out in the field with the rest of the freshmen participants. Most of them were Pro Heroics majors, but some others were there as well. U.A.U. didn’t stop you from taking part just because you weren’t there to be directly in the Heroics industry. Looking around as Bakugou gave the opening pledge (“To win.”), Izuki wondered when a good time to wave at a camera to Takehiko would be. For now though, she’d just focus on the tasks before her. She’d show Japan what she was made of!


	10. Takehiko's In Month

Walking onto Chaldea’s campus, Takehiko tilted his head. He was seeing a pretty normal place, but there was a feeling like he was going to experience something else today. And once he reached the spot where Artoria normally collided with his arm to hold it against herself, he learned a bit of it. “Why didn’t you tell us that Midoriya was a girl?”

Some would take that as accusatory, but he knew how to read the yellow-eyed blonde’s mood. “She didn’t want me to.” That satisfied Artoria, though she didn’t let go of his arm just yet. Not until they reached the point where he needed to turn while she kept walking straight. Or that would be the case on days where she had a lecture to attend at this time. So either she wasn’t going to class or didn’t have one to go to right now. Thankfully, none of his other friends on campus thought anything of it. Though he was still waiting for Artoria to meet his girlfriend, Setsuna would definitely have something to say about this. “When’s your next class today?”

“Combat. After lunch. So I’m sticking with you for a bit.”

“If you get bored, that isn’t my fault.” She shrugged, agreeing with that. Takehiko nodded to Medusa and Frances as he walked to his normal seat next to and in front of the pair. “How’re you two today?”

Medusa let a smile cross her face. “We’re alright. Just trying to figure out how next week’s visits will go.” That got his attention as Achilles walked into the room. “The Chaldea Sports Festival brings in some Pro Heroes from all over the globe no matter what Chaldea campus you’re on.”

She quieted down as Achilles started to tell the students what they could expect from their first class today: A lot of math about what happened when you moved over certain speeds. Some vehicles broke the sound barrier much better than others, one of which was the human body. “Usually this takes quite the powerful Support items, but there are some Quirks that make things happen that normal science can’t quite match yet. Once we reach a certain stability in society, perhaps we’ll even turn some of these minds to space exploration again. I know I’d quite like to ride my chariot around the stars quite a bit more literally than I do now!”

That was certainly something to think on. Nearly four hundred years ago, the world was working on technology to get to space without much expense on wasted fuel and breaking materials. But the advent of Quirks had set more than a few things to the side. Especially when that monster Shigaraki took over for a few years. No one knew who dismantled his empire to this day, but there were way more vigilantes back then as compared to today where such people were almost villains in their own right. Which brought an interesting thought, since some people considered Stain a vigilante and villain in nearly equal measures still. The message the Hero Killer was spouting about his killing of Pro Heroes was definitely one you wouldn’t have tho

Shigaraki.

Takehiko’s brain stuttered as he remembered something. Glancing around, he saw that Achilles was focused on his lecturing and the girls were not looking at him. Pulling out his personal phone, he sent a request to the Rider Base for any information they had on the name Shigaraki. Because while he didn’t know the reason he knew it in the present, he did know of someone in the future who would have a very powerful Quirk indeed. Maybe he could prevent Kanso from being born? That would be quite the boon for his future reign. A Japan that didn’t have a giant desert where his house used to be sounded quite nice.

Turning his attention back to the lecture, it seemed he was just in time to hear Achilles ask someone what the answer to a question was. Not himself, thankfully, but looking it over and listening to the other guy, Takehiko had a pretty good idea what would happen to the trains. Those poor passengers…

Exiting the last class of the day, Kamen Rider Zi-O tugged the Ridewatch from his belt to resume his normal appearance. Or at least his normal Pro Hero outfit, which seemed like a cloth version of his Rider Suit but with some squared shoulders instead of the rounded ones normally adorning them in combat. He glanced at Artoria in her armor and hooded cape. “You may have gone a bit too rough on Teach back there.”

“Not rough enough.” The shortstack blonde huffed. “If he doesn’t watch his mouth, I may just have to cash that check it keeps writing since Medusa won’t do it herself.”

Said purplette sighed from her spot opposite Artoria on Takehiko’s other flank. “At least this new costume isn’t as bad as Medb wanted it. I’ll take this over her… her…  _ cleavage window _ any day!” Indeed, the tall woman was no longer in a dress that gave people very good ideas what she looked like under it. Instead, it was a bodysuit that had some simple steel armor on it here and there, though breastplate could probably have been a little bigger and the side skirts were the only form of protection she had beyond the material of her costume itself. She’d been quite happy to hear his opinion that she looked good though. He was glad to see the smile on her face, that was for sure. “Well, what do you two have planned for the weekend?”

Takehiko shrugged, opening his mouth to say not much but was beat to it. “I’m going to visit Takehiko’s home.” That brought surprised amber eyes around, and Medusa wondered what that feeling which just bloomed in her chest was. Artoria tugged his sleeve, looking up at him with a glint in her yellow eyes. He gave a small nod. That brought a small smile to her face. “I just wish I could stay after dinner.”

Ah yes, Chaldea’s pesky curfew for going off campus. “I’m sure we can find ways to fill up the day before you have to go.” Takehiko shrugged as he separated from the girls. “See you two outside.” On returning to his locker where he’d hang up his costume for washing, he glanced at his phone to see if he had any messages and… yes he did. The info was waiting for him in his office at the Base, good. He thanked the people involved in that before putting his shirt on. Turning around as he closed the door, Takehiko rose an eyebrow at the pair in front of him. The pair from India, though he found it odd to think such a pale man came from that area. “...gents, could you please step aside? I’ve got--”

“Your business can wait. We need you to help us decide something.” Ugh. Great. Now he was today’s arbiter of whatever arbitrary task they had come up with. “Between these two photos, who’s the best looking woman?” Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad! Looking at the photos held up, Arjuna named them. “That is the current holder of the Ganesha title, and this is Nurse Nightingale from Chaldea’s infirmary.”

“...I can see why you might be into Ganesha, she looks quite soft and squishy.” Karna grinned. “But I’ll have to say I’m more into the nurse. Simple, but a little yellow bikini like this works wonder.”

Arjuna grinned, and flicked away the picture of the brunette in skimpy attire as he tucked the photo from one of Nightingale’s gravure shoots into his pocket as he walked away. Karna went to catch the photo from his own personal collection, mumbling that Arjuna didn’t know what he was talking about to it as Takehiko left himself. He had other things to get to today after all.

After saying goodbye and goodnight to his friends, Takehiko was off to the Rider Base. His office was not in the same direction he’d taken Izuki the other day, seeing as he was not a doctor and wouldn’t be going down that path. There was not enough time to be a good Hero, a good politician AND a good doctor in his life. As he turned to walk down a hall, Takehiko rose an eyebrow as he took himself out of someone else’s time stop again. They weren’t very frequent, but it seemed whoever was doing this was experimenting after school. Most of the time, anyway. He looked forward to seeing who was doing this so much. Hopefully he’d be able to figure out where it happened later. Entering his office, with the placard not visible thanks to the plastic Zi-O mask hanging on it right now thanks to Tsukasa, Takehiko looked forward to seeing what all there was. And on top of his desk was a file.

It was… very small. Sitting in the unfamiliar chair, going over his first bit of business in the Base, the unmasked Rider took in the bit of information available. Okay, that explained why he thought it was familiar today. This blue-haired guy with hands all over his body had been the one to attack the USJ awhile ago. And he had a… Disintegration Quirk. Eraserhead had his arm nearly eaten through, and two students had nearly fallen victim to it, that cute girl with the Frog Quirk and Izuki. So that made this a little personal. But besides this guy who was too young to have a daughter with a Quirk active right now, the only other Shigaraki was the one who turned Japan into his personal playground a century or so ago. That man had no known descendants, but he did have a four-person family before becoming a dictator. What must that have been like, being brother to a man with such oppressive ideals?

The future King slotted the file into the ‘out’ box standing on his desk, probably the only thing he’d need from it for a while. As he stood up though, the phone on the other end of his desk started going off. Sitting again, Takehiko picked it up and held the receiver up to his head before pressing the blinking light. “Moshi moshi, this is Kamen Rider Zi-O.” … “Sure, I can be down soon. What kind of prep… I’ll be there.” Setting the phone down, he looked out his window before grinning to himself. He hadn’t been expecting a call to see to a ghost, but if the Tenkuji ghost fighters wanted his help, why deny it? Especially since Tenkuji himself was currently out on his vacation to a temple where he couldn’t fly back to U.A.U. in time from. But why say no to a free Ridewatch? “Hello. You must be Akari.”

The young woman nodded, and held out the orange-faced Ridewatch. “That’s Tsukimura-san to you, Zi-O-san. Now come on, we have to get going! That invisible man won’t be debunking himself.” She turned to start walking, but paused as she heard Takehiko turn the Bikewatch into the Ridestriker. “...that works too.”

“Hop on, Tsukimura-san.” After they were both helmeted, Takehiko started the drive to their destination. He wondered why a ghost or invisible man would be in some kind of embarrassing place in U.A.U…. what even  _ was _ an embarrassing place in that school? Well, he’d learn once he arrived. “I thought you’d be out with Tenkuji-san to that temple?”

Helmet mics were great. “No. I may be dating him, but I’m still not going to temples just to see how haunted they are when there’s work to do. Left everything on the Institute’s shoulders without even a proper replacement!” He heard her huff into it. “And while I appreciate the help, Zi-O-san, you aren’t the same as that.”

Takehiko nodded. “I agree. Temporary at best, a one-time use at worst. But thank you again for the Ridewatch. ...why do you have it instead of Tenkuji-san?”

“He thought it was a good idea to leave it just in case. He was right, but I’m not going to tell him that right off!”

Is this what a scorned girlfriend looked like? Huh. He’d need to take notes on how she was changed by Takeru apparently blowing her off. For the moment, his attention went back to the road. In short order, they were standing in front of U.A.U. while his Ridestriker turned back into the Bikewatch. As they entered the university, Takehiko flipped the Zikuu Driver into active standby. No Ridewatches in it yet, but it would give him some leeway with the security.

Speaking of, the current Head of Security was leading them to where the problem was. A Pro Hero by the name Mister Blaster was leading the way. And already, Takehiko could tell this was not going to be a good talk. The man wasn’t quite prideful enough in himself to be called arrogant, he seemed genuinely contrite in his inability to help the girls stuck in the locker room (yep that was pretty embarrassing) after all, but the confidence he exuded was just… a level below what he thought Bakugo had. Which was quite the feat, considering that exploding boy considered those beneath him extras. “So, now that you know the situation, what can you two do to fix it?”

Akari opened her mouth to answer. “Cause I ain’t got time to deal with any mess-ups on top of this!”

Takehiko figured the best way to answer was practically. Pulling out the two Ridewatches he’d need, the young man turned to face the wall just in case the armor manifested a bit too wide before being used.  **“ZI-O! GHOST!”** That shut up Mister Blaster for a second as he turned to watch the “Henshin.”

The Zi-O Suit appeared first, with the GhostArmor just popping into existence next to him.  **“KAMEEEEN RIDERRRR** **_ZI-O_ ** **! ARMORRRR TIIIIME!”** Some upbeat music played that reminded Akari of something.  **“KAIGAN!** **_GHOOOSTOOO!_ ** **”** Glancing to his shoulders, that was the right call. These were some bulky Eyecons on him!

Mister Blaster was not impressed. “What the hell? How will all this help yo--where’d he go?!”

Akari smiled some. “I do believe he’s going to solve this ghost problem for you.”

Inside the locker room, Zi-O frowned in his mask at the sight before him. While normally a bunch of naked or nearly naked girls would be wonderful. But these were quivering in fear, unable to get out and unable to see the one currently molesting the girl with the biggest ass in the room. But he did, and it was quite the ugly monster that was holding her up. “Hey! Let her go, punk!”

The girl gave a teary squeak as Another Ghost looked up at him. “The hell?! Who’re you, why’re you here?!” She let out a short mewl of discontent as he moved his rough hand over her chest. “Oh, are you here to be my jester while I luxuri--”

“I’ll stop you right there.” Takehiko zoomed forward, taking quickly to the floating that this Armor gave him as he punched Another Ghost in his grinning face. Making sure the girl was okay, he set her on her feet, bringing a confused look as suddenly the rough hands and body were replaced just by a smooth grip. One that gave her a light push towards the door. After all, he couldn’t pop into sight right now, or they all might think him the intruder. “You’re not going to be assaulting anyone else.”

That got Another Ghost riled up. “What?! You don’t know who yer messin’ with, brat, cause I’m Hanzo Owarujime! The biggest and baddest face basher in Kansai!”

“...well, now I do. And I imagine that’ll just make turning you into the police much easier.” Zi-O smirked as the man in the orange mask let out an inarticulate yell before running at him. Since he still had a civilian behind him, he parried the attack before kicking the other spectral being. Another Ghost went rolling through a wall thanks to the impact, he moved to follow quickly. Which was a mistake, as Another Ghost was already sending a punch to his face! As he landed on the ground and couldn’t roll with the impact, Zi-O felt his head ring a little. “Ugh… agh… gotta finish this quick.”

The villain was laughing uproariously as he gloated about his face bashing skills. “Ain’t used my fist much before, usually I gots a bat to do it with! But that felt pretty damn good too!” Turning to the girls who were slowly getting their clothes on again, he let out a little growl. “Oh no ladies, you ain’t goin’ nowhere till you learn how to appreciate a king’s touc--geh!”

Floating was way too good a skill to not practice, Zi-O decided as he righted himself. “I’m sorry. But there’s only one King in this room. You’re not him.” Looking at the tripped moron who thought himself king for a moment, Zi-O gave a scowl. “Allow me to demonstrate.”

Another Ghost turned to try and hit him in the head again, but anyone calling themselves a face basher likely had very obvious intent. So Kamen Rider Zi-O slipped around the hooded monster and gave him another kick in the back. And then another, and one to the chest when the man turned around, followed by a sweeping roundhouse to make sure he didn’t have to deal with any surprises through the wall again. Coming out into an empty men’s locker room, he smirked as he did a quick handsign. Some Parka Ghosts appeared from the Eyecon Shoulders and moved to quickly grab Another Ghost. As the man tried to get free, he heard something very distressing.  **“Finish Time! GHOST!”** Looking at Zi-O, the idiot tried to knock away the Parka Ghosts but they were quite insistent on keeping him in place as Zi-O stood tall and floated upwards. Tilting his body just so, he flew feet first at Another Ghost.  **“Omega! TIME BREAK!”**

Mister Blaster let out a yelp on hearing an explosion from the men’s locker room. Running to check it out, he paused on seeing the slim young man in a hospital gown. “Wha--where the hell did you come from?!”

Zi-O blinked into sight, and glanced at Mister Blaster before moving to pick up the broken Anotherwatch. “Your culprit, Hanzo Owarujime, Mister Head of Security. This was the tool he used, an Anotherwatch. A copy of a Kamen Rider’s powers from another world, twisted to be evil rather than used for good.” He moved it away from Mister Blaster’s grasping hand. “I’ll be keeping this for examination at the Rider Base. We do need to know why this is happening, after all, and having an effective counter is going to be very useful.”

With that, he turned to head out, citing the young man as not his problem. Stopping outside the locker rooms, he looked at the door Akari apparently went through as he heard some short cheers coming out. Takehiko took the Ridewatches off his belt, and began to put them away. “Whoa! You’re a Kamen Rider!” Turning around to see who said that, he recognized the girl before him easy enough. Even if she hadn’t made an impression on him at the Sports Festival with her inventions and turning Tenya Iida into a ten minute advertisement, that bust contained in just a thick tanktop would have certainly jogged his memory as she stopped moving and it bounced to a jiggly stop. The pinkette with… dreadlocks? grinned up at Takehiko. Rapidfire questions about his belt started coming from her without pause, not even for answers. “--andcanyouintroducemetoSento-senseithat’dberealgreat--” was the only part he really understood.

Takehiko held up a hand to try and get her to pause. Thankfully, she did. “...I only understood the part about taking you to Sento-sensei. And I can do that. But I’ll need more than your performance at the Sports Festival.” Waving a hand for them to not be standing right in front of the women’s locker room, he led Mei out of the building. “Something new that hasn’t been seen by anyone would probably be best. Do you have anything like that?”

This was apparently the right and wrong thing to say, as Mei started to tug him to the Support Department’s building on campus. She was talking very excitedly again, and he could hardly understand it this time because Takehiko was not versed in technobabble. But when the pinkette turned back to try and grasp  _ his _ Ridewatch, that’s when he stopped time with someone holding on to him for the first time. And apparently, no one else could be brought into his frozen world. Good to know, as he gently pried her fingers from his wrist and moved to the other side of the engineer. As she stumbled and he kept a hold on her shoulder so she didn’t fall, Takehiko rose an eyebrow. “What were you trying to do by grabbing at my Ridewatch?”

Mei bounced back quickly, grinning up at him. “I wanted to test out how durable it was and the ways I could incorporate something like it into my babies! You’re the new guy, so that means all sorts of ideas for how to give you new tech will be hitting you pretty soon.” She hooked a finger at her chest. “And I wanna get in on the ground floor of that!”

“I see. I can respect that. But please ask if you want to study a Ridewatch. Which is also something you’d only be able to do at the Rider Base.” That didn’t seem to deject her at all, as the girl with crosshairs in her yellow eyes gave a thumbs up before starting to jog back to her home away from home. Takehiko followed at a more sedate pace. Once they were inside, Mei stopped jogging as she just energetically walked with him. “So why are your inventions your babies?”

“Because Mama made me, and I made them, so why aren’t they my babies?” That made an interesting sort of sense even to him. “Though I wouldn’t mind having a biological baby. But everyone that comes to me for gear won’t take me up on it. Not like I wouldn’t compensate them, and Mama left me plenty of good advice too!”

Takehiko blinked at that. “...compensate? How?”

“Well, just once wouldn’t be real fun, I bet. So since I can’t get doubly pregnant without some Quirk or drug shenanigans, why not let them keep on usin’ me for fun? It should be enjoyable for both of us, eh?” Huh. Now that was quite the fun compensation indeed. “And it’d let mehavesomecompany while I’m working on babies, sothatwouldbenicetoo.”

Oh. Huh. So Mei was asking for a twisted sort of friend to talk to while she made things, it sounded. “Well, why don’t we see how things go and if you get to be my specialized engineer, we can work out how things happen in the Rider Base.”

That got the dreadlocked girl to pause in her steps. “...specialized? As in, just for you? And only you, uhhhhh Ji-O?”

“Zi-O. And I’d let you take on interesting commissions but for the most part? Yeah. Just for me. Maybe some of my friends too if I start a team or agency outside the Base.” He took half a step back, having not expected the hug at that much speed, or strength. “Okay… seems like… you like that.”

“You haven’t even seen what my babies can do…” Mei took a shuddering breath before pulling back, trying to surreptitiously wipe at her cheeks before giving him a big grin. “I won’t disappoint ya!”

As they arrived at the Support Labs, they saw that some students were already coming and going. From what he could tell, most of them were Support majors but there were a few that he figured were in Pro Heroics more. The guy with giant bulging muscles who went to a desk that held some delicate looking equipment and moved it around ever so carefully threw Takehiko for a loop though, that was for sure. Still! He was here on a mission, so followed the pinkette freshman to her little corner of the… “Is this the communal junkpile or something?”

“Nope! These are all my babies!”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE YOUR OWN PILE UP TO THE CEILING”

Sento rubbed his chin as he tilted a glove forward and back. “The workswomanship is incredible. I can hardly believe you made this in your own garage and not at U.A.U.”

Mei bounced subtly, arms at her side and fists jiggling just as much as her chest. “Well, it took a lot longer at home than at school, but after I managed to get the materials off of a broken down VR headset and controller, the internals were the hardest part! Getting it all to fit was the challenge but I managed to get it so that it only pinches your pinky every fifth use of the radar and that only for a few seconds.”

Takehiko could certainly appreciate a handworn radar that would transmit either onto any reflective surfaces nearby or just show a hologram above the wearer’s forearm. But would Sento call it good enough? “What’s the radius?” As the pair started getting into the technicals, the young man noted just the bits he figured were necessary like the range of the radar’s detection area and runtime as he looked at the other things Mei brought out to try and impress Sento with. “Well, you’re certainly in the right vocation! I look forward to seeing what you can make for Zi-O, Hatsume-san. But be sure you work  _ with _ him as well, that’s one of the biggest hurdles you’ll face as an inventor. Making things they like isn’t enough, it has to actually work with them.”

Turning to walk over as they finished up and Mei’s grin threatened to split her face, the short girl moved to give the two Kamen Riders tight hugs, though the one she gave her new patron was much tighter and longer. “I’m not sure what your peers are thinking, but at least Majima knows how to cater talent. Send your schedule over soon, I’ll set you up with a lab and times you’ll be expected to leave. Because going by what you’ve cooked up on your own and in U.A., I’m fairly sure you wouldn’t leave unless someone took you out.” Sento looked to the one still being hugged. “Which is nominally your job. Make sure she gets home, Takehiko-kun. A mind like this needs the right kind of nourishment to stay on the path of protecting love and peace.”

“She’ll be fine with me, Sento-sensei. Are we going to see that lab tonight or…?”

The former Devil’s Scientist shook his head. “You head out now. We’ll figure it out later, but there aren’t any ready tonight. It’ll take a bit for me to get the room ready anyway, so it won’t be this week either. Probably best you not return this month though, Hatsume-san.” That drew a nearly crushed look from her, since it sounded like one of Mei’s idols was telling her to stop working. “He’s got a full schedule and just churning out items he won’t see won’t be helpful for either of you. But there’ll be plenty of time to get acquainted with our facilities once he’s back.”

Takehiko was quite confused by this before snapping his fingers. “That exercise with U.A.! It’ll take some time?”

Sento nodded. “And that’s just the actual exercise. Trust me, you’ll want to go in prepared as possible but also knowing your equipment. You should get called in to talk with Tsukasa about it tomorrow.” Which made sense, considering his schedule was entirely empty of Chaldea that day but until the weekend he’d be doing a lot over there. And then next month was Chaldea’s Sports Festival. “So get going! Get to know each other. You might not be able to make him things just yet, Hatsume-san, but it won’t hurt to learn what Takehiko thinks like.”

That got Mei’s mood back up, as she figured this would be a lead up to more babies! “Yeah! Okay! I’m okay with that!” She turned to Takehiko with a wide grin. “Come on! Let’s talk about designs and see how my ideas can make you a better Rider!”

Takehiko waved goodbye to Sento as he was dragged away and out of the Rider Base. Sure, he could drive them to Mei’s place but the rate she was talking, he doubted there’d be time to get her helmet on and the mic alive before he missed something crucial. It was a good thing he could slow down time, or else he may not have been able to actually converse with her. And it was subtle enough most people wouldn’t notice. “...so a grappling hook would be nice, but I don’t think I’d have space for it on my back. Not during my transformations, anyway. But I do have an accessory that allows me to carry some things in a pocket dimension. Currently, I only have the Zikan Girade in it. Everything else, I carry in my pockets. So I’d be able to use the grappling hook while in my Rider Suit but that would probably have some very different applications since I can jump pretty high already. Now if you could attach it to my arm and costume someho--”

“No no no, that would just tear out your socket! You can’t do Hero work if you’re just carrying a noodle for an arm all day. But there should be some part of your body I can augment with it… maybe a harness under an arm, or over a shoulder… oh! That even gives me more space to play with more babies to attach!” Mei’s mind started to work overtime. “I’ll need to sketch this all down when I get home. Can’t let the chance why are you holding me?”

Takehiko chuckled. “Just a habit. You’re shorter than me, and I didn’t want to chance anyone taking advantage of that. Or you.”

Mei let out a little hum, and wrapped her arms around him curiously. “Oh hoh! Even under this baggy shirt, you’ve got some muscles! I can work with these, yeah… gonna need some measurements so that everything fits. You have your Hero Costume on you somewhere?”

“That’s back at Chaldea.”

“We can work on that part later. Just a shirt on should be a good starting point and if the baby is too tight on you we can go from there.” Mei slowly worked her hands downwards. He smirked a little as she gave his tush a squeeze before roaming lower. “You’ve got some great legs too… Rider things?”

“I do need strong legs to get the Kick off right.”

“Rider things. So an anchor probably isn’t the best idea, especially since you probably don’t want to use something like the Breast Cannon. But what kind of baby could augment these…”

As the train ride went, Takehiko gave her some stations as they came up. Soon enough, they were off the train again. While walking with Mei, he found himself examined pretty intently by her Zooming eyes. It helped that the crowds thinned until they were alone on a street. Figuring now was a good time, he moved his hand to do something he figured she may be okay with.

The pinkette looked down, her dreadlocks flopping a bit as he did some examining of her chest now. “What’s this for?”

“You said you wouldn’t mind seeing what it would be like to have a biological baby. I’m just making sure you’re naturally able to do so. These don’t look like something you had implanted though.”

That made Mei laugh. “Nah! Mama has some great genes to pass down, but they’re a hassle when I’m doing work some days. Get in the way of so many things… You’d actually want to put a baby in me? When we only just met a few days ago? That’s usually the sticking point for most of the other guys that hear me talk about it, not to mention…”

Takehiko glanced at her face as he moved his hand downward, now rubbing at her stomach. “Other guys are also morons. They don’t want the responsibility that fatherhood would foist on them. I am okay with it though. After all, I’ve had plenty of unprotected sex and at least one of the girls I know would also be fine with being a mom too.” Nejire was probably more okay with being a mom if it was  _ him _ doing the fathering, but still. “So what’s the problem with adding another to that list?”

“You’re a playboy it see-eep!” Mei’s eyes widened. No one had ever dipped their hands past her waistband before. That was new. “...my Mama isn’t gonna be home for a few hours. Tha-that’s plenty of time to work on babies, right?”

“Plenty indeed.” Takehiko was very much amused, and aroused, when Mei grabbed his arm and started to insistently pull him towards her home. It was a modest two-story place, almost identical to the Tamashiro household actually. Probably the same building company. As he slipped his shoes off, he noted that there wasn’t even a little shelf for Mei to put her boots on, just the simple entryway. “Sorry for the intrusion.”

Mei glanced at him, her cheeks a little pinker than before. It was probably the first bit of embarrassment she’d felt in years, according to how he knew her. Very vigorous texting in spurts that were more about how an idea hit her than anything, talking that she was interested in only for moments at a time, and Takehiko knew the main reason she remembered him was because they’d been working together so much in just the last week. His first question about her place was for where Mei did her inventing, which got the engineer to perk up again. “Come on! My babies are this way!”

He took a few glances around the house as they went. It seemed Mei had both parents in her life but she mainly just talked about her mom. One supported and the other was quiet he guessed… damn. Mrs. Hatsume did have some great genes to pass down, though how two tall people gave birth to a girl that barely met his chest with the top of her head was a mystery. Takehiko was a little amused to see she got her hair from her dad though. For now, he kept talking with Mei. He did want her to be calmed down and ready for him, after all.

In the garage, a feature the Tamashiro household didn’t have, he saw that she’d turned it into her own lab. Mei was excitedly drawing out some sketches of what his new Support gear would look like, muttering about it to herself. Stepping up next to her, he leaned over while putting a hand on the pinkette’s side. Where before he figured that wouldn’t have phased her, she froze for a moment entirely before picking up where she left off. Takehiko told her a few bits of info that he figured would help, like his Quirk affecting anything attached to his person but not any _ one _ . “At least, I haven’t tried to stop time while wanting to bring someone else with me.”

Mei wanted to gnaw on her pencil at the exciting thought of what she could get done in frozen time. “Can you stop time and take me with you?!”

Heh. He learns that he can stop time without affecting people thanks to Mei, and then he learns if he can take anyone else with him with Mei. Now that was quite silly in his opinion. “Sure. I’m already holding you, so…” Takehiko put his phone on the table, and brought out a random song from his downloaded playlist. As the guitar started up hard, he let it play for a few seconds before blinking. While time and sound stopped for him, he looked down to Mei. “You still hear that?”

The inventor was still for a moment before reaching a hand up to her ears. “There’s… nothing. Just my heartbeat. How do you…?”

“It takes a lot of getting used to. Still want to try and make babies in frozen time?” Her light blush made him think she was now realizing the connotations attached to that question, though Takehiko doubted she’d break her habit after today. “Though, I don’t know what’ll happen if I let go of you.”

That brought Mei back to an experimenting mindset. “So let go! Let’s see if I can stay i

n stopped time oh. Music’s going… oh, wow, that’s a lot of stuff going on in the background. Is my lab usually this loud?”

He just laughed some. “You have no idea how I first reacted to sounds restarting when I was first able to do this.” Turning off the music, he nodded. “So I can take people in if they’re touching directly and vice versa, but I have to will it to happen. No touch returns people to normal time.”

The dreadlocked girl was already writing down these notes on a separate pad of paper, glad to have experiments done. “How come you didn’t know that before now?”

“Sento-sensei didn’t want to test it just in case something weird happened. We can figure out more things later, preferably at the Rider Base in your lab.”

She agreed easily enough to that. Turning back to her sketch, Mei resumed her planning as if nothing had interrupted her. Takehiko stayed close to her, rubbing her side a little as the pinkette focused. That didn’t mean she was just ignoring him, since he saw her blush steadily growing. Especially when his hand slipped under her tanktop. The thick fabric worked in the shop, but it wasn’t good at keeping his hand from touching her skin. Huh, Mei was pretty well built. Nothing like a Pro Heroics major, but moving her own equipment and babies around was not always light as a feather. As they talked inventing babies, his hand rubbed and went higher. Takehiko rose an eyebrow on finding her bra felt quite silky. Now was this because she couldn’t find any in her own size besides this, or was she expecting something…

Mei squeaked as his finger slipped into the slit in the middle of her cup, rubbing along pale flesh before moving up her areola and to a nipple. “Then thi-this part will make an explo-si-sive reaction after you punch. Kin-nda like one of those Exceeeeeed Char--!”

Takehiko smirked as he learned that even Mei could be made into putty as he fiddled with her nipple. “...this is as far as I’ll go with my hands tonight. I like this idea for a knuckle, that’s going to be real useful in combat. Will it be compatible with my Suit or my Costume, or both?”

She mewled a little,  _ mewled! _ , before focusing again. “The idea is to ma-make it compat-tible with both, but starting with one or the other would be best. Ca-can you bring ooouuuut any weapons right now?”

Takehiko shook his head, and started to slide his hand down. “No. The Jikan Girade and most of my Ridewatches are stored inside the Jikuu Driver until I need them.” He brought his hand out of her shirt. “So having it as a weapon for my Costume would probably be a better choice right now. Will you be making Mission Memories for it or use Ridewatches as a power source?”

Mei straightened her tanktop out, holding it down and looking up at him for a second, emphasizing her nipples a little, before letting go. “Your Ridewatches would probably be the best idea. Mission Memories are weird and with Smart Brain dead and their technologies still kept private, I wouldn’t be able to replicate it in that size easily, if at all. When we have my lab, I’ll, uh, I’ll get on it. Can I see your Zi-O Ridewatch?”

Takehiko brought out his personal Ridewatch, turning it around so that Mei could see how it connected to the Jikuu Driver. As she ran a hand over the rails on the back, her eyes zoomed in on them. Turning back to her notepad, the engineer started to write down her notes. She looked to and from the back, taking in the details. “Fascinating… Can I take it apart?!”

“No.”

“I’ll need to plan just the aesthetics for my babies, cause the bits that power it or take power from your Ridewatches will have to be adjusted depending on what it uses.” Mei grinned widely. “Ohhhh I’m going to make such unique babies with you!”

“You can do that after we have a lab. For now, I’ll be keeping this.” Takehiko thought for a second. “I’ll be in the room while you’re working with my Ridewatches at all, actually. Not every time you’re making things but if you need a Ridewatch, call me. We’ll schedule a meet-up.” That got a pout at first before she was back to showing off the teeth. “For now, I’m gonna head home. Have some stuff to do.”

Before he left, Takehiko leaned over to kiss Mei on the forehead, vacated of her massive goggles after they’d arrived. The future King turned to make his own way out, telling the stunned engineer he’d see her later. It was a little backwards but… was she gonna have a boyfriend once the lab was finished? That was certainly not an action someone who'd just use her as a receptacle would do, right?

Leaving Chaldea on Saturday, Takehiko hummed to himself. Glancing at the short blonde next to him, he chuckled. “You have any plans for how we spend time today? My house is going to be empty for a bit.” Artoria nodded, smiling as she left campus with only her best male friend. “Going to tell me these plans?”

“No.”

“Very well.” He laughed some, and took the Bikewatch out. Sitting on the Ridestriker, he waited for Artoria to put her helmet on and join him before driving home. Aside from the warm weather allowing the blonde to show to all she was the definition of ‘shortstack’, it was a very quiet ride. Helped by the fact Artoria was normally quiet anyway. He’d reached down a couple times at stoplights to gauge her reaction to Takehiko deciding to take a hold of her strong legs, but the woman didn’t do much. Press her chest harder into his back, sure, but not much else. Once they’d arrived at the Tamashiro home, he pat her leg one more time, as it’d be hard for him to get up if she didn’t. “Time to get up.”

Or that had been his plan, before Artoria just took her helmet off and wrapped herself around him from behind. Considering she didn’t weigh very much outside of her Costume, Takehiko had no trouble getting off the Ridestriker with a blonde koala on him. Putting the Bikewatch away, he kept hold of her legs as he walked to the front door and entered. “Tadaima.”

An empty house didn’t answer back. “Okaeri.” But the blonde that was taking her shoes off did, even if it was a little muffled into his back. Scrambling a little up his back, she peeked over his shoulder. “It looks nice. Where’s your room?”

Takehiko grinned a bit at her eagerness to be alone. “Just up the stairs.” Walking up, he stepped passed a bathroom door before turning into the next door after, and turned to close the door. Artoria dropped from there, and took a few steps towards his bed. “Welcome to my room. What do you think?”

She pushed on his mattress a little. “It’s nice.” Looking around, she saw that he didn’t have any posters up but there were figurines of Heroes and Heroines. “Not a fan of decoration?”

“Well, I only entertained one person in here throughout high school. Not much reason to put up things that we wouldn’t focus on, y’know?” Takehiko tilted his head at the glasses wearer. “How about you?”

She shook her head. “I left all my things at home. Didn’t want them to break in the middle of transit.” Artoria pulled his blankets back before pointing at the bed. “Sit.”

Doing so, he was about to ask why when Artoria took the question from him as she began to strip. And he didn’t need to see more than her bra against her white undershirt to know what she was wearing. He’d seen it back in the lingerie store. But that didn’t mean watching her free her chest was unappreciated. And her face without glasses was cute as always. Slowly pushing her shorts down, he got to watch as her breasts hung even while being supported. The black cups had lace along the bottom, and going up her cleavage to the straps. Standing straight, he saw that her stockings extended past the hem of her shorts, with more flowery lace and connected to her panties that had a bit of a skirt connected to them, sheer and slightly blocking the view of a flower on the front, though not how the dark fabric was a little darker just below it. Artoria smiled at his amber eyes running up and down her body. “You’re wearing too much.”

Standing, Takehiko stripped himself, not going as slowly as she had but still making sure the blonde enjoyed her own show. Unlike her, he took his boxers down with his shorts. The first bit of a blush filled her cheeks on seeing him standing at attention even as the future King sat down again. Licking her lips, Artoria moved forward to kneel in front of him. “Hmm… this is certainly a kingly scepter.” Her tongue came out to lick at Takehiko, enjoying that for a second before coming up to rub her covered chest against him. His groan at her embrace made the yellow-eyed girl smile. But like the lick, she didn’t keep doing that for long. Sitting on his lap, she looked up at his face. Even as she started to grind her core against him, Artoria hesitated on something. “Nnnnh… do-don’t look. I ca-can’t…”

...she wasn’t… “Are you trying to say you can’t kiss me with my eyes open, but you were happy to get nearly naked without batting an eyelash?”

The blonde nodded, looking at him demurely. Now that was just silly, in his mind. But Artoria was certainly cute in her own way. Seeing as she hadn’t stayed down there long, Takehiko had no problems leaning down and turning her head to his so that he could kiss the blonde himself. She let out a little hum as his hands explored her, her own wrapped around his back. Artoria slipped a moan into the kiss after he squeezed her ass, a good handful and than some. And while he did enjoy the lingerie on her, Takehiko was just as happy to see her take it off. Starting with the bra, she pulled it up and over her head, sending her boobs into a bounce that ended with the large orbs on her small frame sagging a little. Takehiko brought a hand up, lifting one from its tear-dropped shape and enjoying it. Artoria was a soft woman for all that she did have muscle on her. But unlike Izuki or Itsuka who had full six-packs, Artoria looked like she was barely pushing four. Still, it was not a body only made from sitting around that he had on his lap right now. Takehiko was appreciative of this, though he wondered how far back he’d have to lean her before he could lean down to get his teeth around one of those lovely tits…

Moving Artoria onto the bed, he started to peel her underwear and stockings up her legs. She let out a little sound as he bared her pussy and the slight bit of hair above it to the air. Takehiko grinned as he looked at her wet lips. “If I’m not mistaken, you haven’t had any guys actually inside here.”

She found it hard to answer as his fingers played around with her labia as his other hand took the remaining lingerie off. Artoria let out a shuddering moan when a finger pushed inside her. Takehiko experimented with how well his finger could play around and where he could get it going inside her. The English-descended girl gasped as he flicked her clit. “Allow me to show you how… Condom on o--”

“No condoms! I-I’m okay without.” That came out quickly. Still, as Artoria reached down to aim him at her, Takehiko wouldn’t say anything against it. “So take this and, and make me your woman.”

He grinned at that. She was excited indeed! Takehiko obliged, pushing in slowly before feeling she had nothing blocking him. So he went in further, Artoria moaning out as her hands wrapped around his back. The young man groaned as he found himself enveloped inside her. She didn’t say a word, but her hands pulsed around him as he went in and out. Slowly, the slim limbs slipped off him before she was laying on the bed, wrapping her legs around his waist now. The pair exchanged words of appreciation as they experienced each other for the first time. Straightening up, Takehiko grasped her hips as he rammed into Artoria, prompting more loud moans from her as she felt him rub against deep parts that her own fingers and toys had never been able to. Yeah, if there was one thing she’d take from today, it was that this bad would be where she’d end up much more often. The blonde knew that, even as she arched her back in her first orgasm, body shuddering and breasts spilling out to her sides. Grasping the bed sheets, yellow eyes came up to amber before gasping again. “Ah… yes! Cum, cum, cum!” Takehiko smirked a little. He figured she’d want him to unload inside her from the way she’d said she was okay without condoms. Legs tightening around his waist, Artoria murmured something in English he thought sounded like… that couldn’t be it. “Nnnh! Takehiko, don’t just leave me like this. I wanna do more positions!”

Happy to acquiesce, he sat up on his knees before lifting Artoria’s legs up, and over her shoulders. Leaning over the short woman, he began to slap his hips to hers again. The blonde moaned out loud, happy to tell him that not only did she feel wonderful because of this but Takehiko was definitely the only man she’d go to for this. Parts of her speech were muffled by her tits coming up and slapping her in the face, something she didn’t stop at all because it all felt so good. Artoria was certainly as into this as any of the three other girls he’d fucked, possibly more given her pleading look as the girl asked him to slap her chest. Clamping her legs together to one side, and groaning at how much tighter that made her, he reared a hand back and slapped a breast. The yellow-eyed girl nearly came from that, and the spank that had just as much power crossed that line. Artoria was breathing hard as she felt him cum deep inside again, this time in  _ the _ pose she wanted. Before she could ask him what he was doing by pulling out, Artoria was flipped onto her front with her legs splayed wide, and any leakage blocked before it went too far. She was very happy to feel him continue fucking her hard and fast. And then he was spanking her as well, making her ass jiggle not just from pounding but from turning it red! Artoria moaned deeply into the pillow, gripping it tightly as her eyes rolled a little. It was so gooooood!

As the pair laid next to each other a little later, Takehiko finding it a little hard to breathe thanks to the giant tits on his chest and the slim body on top of them, he chuckled some. “Man, I don’t think I’ve ever been outlasted like this except by the girl who took my first time. You’ve got some stamina in you, Artoria!”

The blonde hummed at that, and burrowed her face into his neck some more. “Thanks. I look forward to more of these, you know.”

He nodded. “I figured. Want to make a schedule now or later? Cause I do have other things to do on my calendar right now.” Takehiko tilted his head at the sensation of something lightly clamping onto his neck. Hard and small, and then… “Why are you teething on me?”

Artoria didn’t answer for a little bit. Once she was satisfied with her marking, she pulled back a little. “Mine.”

Takehiko laughed at that. Rolling on top of Artoria, he grinned as he aimed to slide back into her overfilled canal. “Mine.” Her moans as he filled her again were music to his ears. And it seemed he had finally exhausted his body to the real breaking point, laying next to her now. “You are… real good, yo… you know?”

She shook her head a little before curling her legs and hips up. Artoria looked down at her dripping opening with a smile. When asked why, she turned to him with that same smile. “I’m just looking forward to the future, Papa.”

“...PAPA?! The hell do you mean by that?! I’m not old enough to be a dad, and we’re still in school too! What would… WHY would…?!”

Artoria rocked from side to side a little. “One of my dreams is to have kids. At least four, but just from me, unlike my sisters. I only have one full sister, and she’s in America right now. I also have one half sister, and one adopted. The adopted one should have been from my Dad, but Mama was out on a business trip and was assaulted.” She blushed a little as an image entered her head. “She’s the one that taught me how it was bad to get rid of any child, even if you didn’t want them. But my oldest sister is also one of the kindest people in the world. So not everything about her is bad. Just, how she came to life.”

Takehiko’s amber eyes were wide, looking at a girl that was apparently a little warped inside. “Mom and Mother weren’t too pleased with the circumstances, but we all love her. Though Mother was always a little twitchy whenever I was going to learn something from Mama. So I’m always going to be happy to have my kids. I haven’t found anyone that would sell me fertility boosters, though. Something about not being old enough…”

This was not what he expected to hear. It was… incredibly arousing. But also he was now a little scared of Artoria. “What happens if you get pregnant?”

“I’d like to marry you.” She gave him a bright smile. “But I’d also be alright staying a single mom for a little bit.”

He wasn’t going to propose right now. But at least he had one more woman willing to be among his wives now. That was certainly worth a searing kiss.

Walking out of an Aurora Curtain, Takehiko glanced around. There was a small group of volunteers and two other new Riders that had been told they were doing this. “Rashin-kun. Good to see you again. And you must be… Hanran-san?”

The young man with an arm holster full of Ridewatches gave him a look. “That’s Tachimura to you, Zi-O.” He scowled a little. “Kamen Rider Hanran, but outside my Suit, you call me Tachimura.”

Touchy. Takehiko looked forward to him cooling down as they got to know each other.  _ Not much, but a little. _ For now, he looked at the other U.A. students that would be joining them. They were all wearing varying degrees of casual clothes, though it seemed like the latest Iida son was restraining himself from saying something. Takehiko wasn’t a big fan of the looks he was giving Izuki. Speaking of, the greenette came over to him with a grin. While she wasn’t wearing her binder, it seemed that thick hoodies were the order of the day. They were definitely comfy, he agreed with her on that. “Hi, Hikkun! How’re you doing today?”

...too bright, his eyes… “I’m well. What brought you here?”

Izuki stepped closer to him, looking at him very straight on and answering without saying a word. “I wanted to see what it would be like to team up with some Kamen Riders. And we can fight together too.”

Nodding, he glanced at the last member of their group who wasn’t a Rider. “Well, I’m glad to have you all here. I look forward to seeing future Pro Heroes like yourselves in the roster.”

The visibly invisible Tooru gave a thumb up, her form nearly as curved as Izuki’s but more openly seen. She had to be, considering no one was able to actually see her face or hands. “Glad to be here too! I’m a little surprised you’re the only one from Chaldea here, though…”

“That’s a bit more incidental than anything. I’m not here to join as a Chaldea student, I’m here as Kamen Rider Zi-O.” He glanced at Hanran and Rashin. “Like these two aren’t representing U.A.U. directly. They’re making a debut as Riders, or so Tsukasa tells me.”

Rashin nodded while Hanran scowled, but didn’t say anything to the contrary. The Iida son seemed to be of a different mind. “Now that is just not true! You are a student, therefore you’re representing Chaldea in all that you do, even after you graduate! Your school is doing a disservice by not sending anyone to take part in this exercise! I’ve recently learned that working with others is quite useful and am here to learn more.” Takehiko found that curious, but figured it had something to do with that report of Stain being taken down by Endeavor in the news being false. Tsukasa didn’t know who was part of it, but the Hero Killer had not been taking down solely by Hellflame. “Now where are our teachers. It is quite peculiar that we are here, but they are not?”

Rolling his eyes, Hanran opened his mouth to say something but didn’t get the chance. “At least one of you noticed.” The tired voice drew attention to where Tsukasa was walking through another Curtain with a man who had his arm in a sling that didn’t distract much from his shaggy hair, disheveled appearance and… odd scarf. It seemed to be a lighter version of Rashin’s, but fully wrapped around his neck rather than the long tail his vassal chose. “Currently, we’re about twenty meters below ground. You six will be attempting to get out from here with only your own skills and equipment. Better get it on quick, Decade is taking me and all the things you see that are nice in half an hour.”

Takehiko turned to use the portapotty before it disappeared, leaving his backpack on the ground. After the students congregated in front of them, Aizawa nodded. “You all have four days to leave. The abandoned mines we’re in block phone signals and I’m pretty sure none of you have an app that maps tunnels by sonar.” He smirked at them. “But don’t worry. Most ways here have already been marked, so you should be able to figure the way out or further in easily. And if you cause any collapses, you all remember your training in the USJ.” Aizawa looked at Takehiko, knowing well they didn’t have Zi-O on the roster. "Or other training in this situation."

Looking around at the students, he nodded. "I'll see you all in a few days. Don't die."

Tsukasa waved at them as a Curtain formed behind him. "I'll be here to pick you up if need be, but try not to need me. See you~"

As the brunet let the Curtain envelop him, he nodded to his apprentice. Takehiko nodded back and picked up his backpack. None of the students were wearing their Costumes, as this was an exercise of their ability to work without them. As they started to go, Takehiko looked at the group. "Who wants to lead?"

Hanran stomped his way up in front. "I will. After all, you don't know anyone here so I can best direct them."

Iida pushed up on his glasses. "Excuse me?! That sounds like a very unprofessional thing since I've only seen you during combat classes, Tachimura-san!" Hand cutting through the air, he started to say why he should be the leader instead. Voted high school class and school president, involved with a couple clubs and some of the people in Pro Heroics… "And I am the next Ingenium!"

Izuki looked a little saddened at that while Tooru reached up to pat his shoulder. Rashin let out a small sigh, and Hanran's scowl softened into a frown. Takehiko only knew that Tensei Iida would never walk without assistance again. He hadn't known his little brother would be taking on the name himself.

Still, even with his sympathy, Hanran shook his head. As he started arguing with Tenya about the best course of action, Rashin took his spot at Takehiko's right shoulder and one step behind. Izuki looked to him as well, while Tooru just thought they'd be better off without any bickering. "So while they figure things out, why don't we try to go… down that left turn there?"

The other three nodded, and Tooru bounded forward to let them know. The tallest member of the group nodded while Hanran just grunted his acknowledgement before they both paused. And were moved around before catching up again. Tenya settled into not leading but Hanran stomped up to the front. He wasn't going to be shown up by this latecomer that wouldn't even have a Driver if he hadn't lucked into Decade!

As they all turned, a rumbling sound reached their ears. "What's the chances we get caved in?"

Rashin thought on that. "Close to nothing, but that doesn't mean hurrying up is a bad idea."

Izuki would have liked to speed on ahead at that, but she also knew just blitzing ahead was how you got separated and lost in a place like this. Not something she wanted to deal with. At least Tooru didn’t have to strip for this. The greenette knew that she wasn’t the most fond of that aspect of her ‘costume’. When Takehiko suddenly appeared in front of Tooru, causing the short invisible girl to bump into him, everyone looked back. Izuki was about to ask why he was posed so weirdly when he started to talk. “You’d probably look good with hair a bit closer to your shoulders.”

That made them all pause for a second. “...what do you mean by that?! How can you see my hair, do you know what my face looks like?!” Tooru excitedly asked questions of the time manipulator while the rest looked surprised. Takehiko lowered his arms from where he’d used them to shade Tooru inside stopped time and looked at her. “Oh oh oh, is my hair still blue? It was when I was three but then I started getting invisible and I haven’t been able to see my own hair ever since, even if I cut it or shave it off!”

Takehiko answered most of the questions easily, though one or two he didn’t quite know the answer to. “Your hair isn’t blue, but I think my brain just… couldn’t process the color. I’ll check again later, maybe I’ll have a better answer then.” With that, he turned to start walking again. “Sorry for the interruption. A thought occurred and I can see Hagakure-san when time is stopped, she just has to be shaded from direct light for me to see what I’m looking at.”

Hanran moved to interrogate Takehiko about the properties of light and how his time manipulation played with literally every physical law if that was the case, but the future King was upfront with the knowledge that he hadn’t tested anything about it with Sento yet. He hadn’t had time in his free days to do it or Sento was gone and unable to run the tests. “And the guy can’t do appointments, not even for this! I think he’s got some weird thing going on but I have no clue  _ what _ ! Drives me nuts, I tell you.”

That got some grumbling about similar problems Hanran had with the man, while Rashin just chuckled a little. His Quirk was easy to deal with so he didn’t need help from the mad genius.

As they walked further, the six came to a split in the path. It was one they hadn’t expected, the earlier left turn having been fairly straight before now. Takehiko tapped his chin. “Okay, so how are we doing this? One girl to two boys, two girls on one team, two girls AS one team, I’m open to more suggestions.”

Izuki was quick to attach herself to Takehiko’s team, regardless of the rest. Tooru decided to go with Tenya, liking her chances of finding some fun with him rather than the guy she didn’t know a thing about. Hanran tried to think if he’d have a better time showing up Takehiko directly or just by guarding the entrance where they could get out… Rashin took the choice from him as the vassal stepped over to his King. With their groups made, the trios went off on the different paths.

Moving down the tunnel, Takehiko glanced around. Knowing Tsukasa, this wasn’t going to be just a walk around the mine. “What sort of obstacles do you think will be brought before us?” Izuki had no guesses, while Rashin agreed. This seemed too quiet for something Tsukasa had a hand in. “We’ll just need to get through this and figure out what’s what.”

Another rumbling sounded out around them. It made Takehiko feel like something would happen, but he wasn’t sure when. Soon, the trio met back up with the other set though, since the path Hanran had stomped down was just many turns that led to this one. Tooru was happy to have the whole team back together. As she skipped along with Izuki laughing a little besides her, Takehiko walked behind them. He was certainly enjoying the sight. The invisible girl had certainly chosen some jeans that conformed quite nicely. She was going to be drawing eyes even before people realized that she was a hovering set of clothes. Now would they keep their hands to thems

He rushed forward, amber eyes wide as a rumble sounded right under him. As the other men behind him took steps back, the students all look to see that one of the most numerous Imagin around had popped out of the ground, a Mole. “Great, where there’s one of these, more follow. Everyone, be ready!”

**““ZIKUU DRIVER!””** rang out as Takehiko and Hanran readied themselves for transformation, flipping his buckle and bringing the unfolded Driver out of his pocket. The two looked at each other while ignoring the Mole Imagin clones with different hands popping out after their brother. “...dammit, he told me that I had the only one of these! Damn that Sento…”

“Cool, someone else has one. I’ll need to talk to him about use later. Izuki-chan, Hagakure-san, think you two can handle any others that come out?” He brought out his Ridewatch, listening to their answers before he hit the button.

“I’ll do my best.”

“We got this!”

**“ZI-O!”** Giving his personal Ridewatch a short flip, he caught it with his other hand before bringing it down to the 9 O'Clock Slot. But he wasn’t the only one getting ready to put on something appropriate.

**“HANRAN!” “RA-SHIN!”** A similar voice as his own item’s called out, along with a higher pitched one. Hanran put his black-and-red Ridewatch into his own 9 O’Clock Slot before hitting the button to unlock the Zikuu Driver simultaneously with Takehiko. Rashin gave his own Ridewatch a bit of a hard push into the green container of his Beyondriver. “““Henshin!”””

Clocks gonged as Takehiko drew his left arm up to spin his Driver, Hanran grabbed the 3 O’Clock Slot on his own and pulled, while Rashin brought his own left arm up from behind the cover to close the Beyondriver. The Mole Imagin looked around, their red coats fluttering a bit as they tried to understand where to aim first.  **“KAMEEEN RIDERRR** **_ZI-O!_ ** **” “** **HANRAN!** **”**

**“PROJECTING! Future Time! Amazing! Period! Future! KAMEN RIDER RASHIN! RA-SHIN!”** Well, let it not be said that the unique Drivers weren’t without their interesting tunes. The Mole Imagin were almost hit by the flying characters that made up the final parts of the visors on the Riders’ masks. Rashin’s was formed from katakana just as Zi-O’s were, while Hanran had hiragana on his face that almost looked like a very sharp butterfly. All of them read ‘Rider’, with the tiny stylized ‘Kamen’ above the visors. “This, my King, is where our abilities come in to play. One for each of us?”

“I can take them all down! You just stand back and watch!” Hanran pulled the “ _ Zikan Zax! OH NO! _ ” from his own inventory, rushing in to attack all of the Moles on his own. For a second, the surprise they were under let him take the upper hand. And then they started to coordinate. “Grr… Just die already!”

Takehiko rolled his eyes under his visor before nodding to Rashin. “Let’s make sure he doesn’t bring the whole place down on us.” With that, Zi-O moved into the fray. He used some kicks against his target, while the white-clad Rider turned the Moles’ momentum against them, fighting between two of them and using the main combatant he was against to strike Hanran’s target. “Is this all you’ve got? I’m disappointed!”

Hopping up over an attack, Zi-O took the opportunity to look back at the girls. Which was not a good time, as Tooru had taken her shirt off and flashed the new Mole Imagin that tried to sneak up behind them. It nearly blinded him for a moment, and he was a little surprised she could do that down here! But hey, if she’d worked on her light refraction enough to do that, certainly worth praise later. Izuki went for a strong punch that launched it down the hall, he saw through a blurred gaze. However, as it impacted, he saw that more than a little dirt fell from the ceiling. Zi-O stood up, looking around. The other Moles were being beaten back, though he had to block a hit himself. “What the heck kind of wish are you even trying to fulfill in here?”

The Imagin laughed, voice deep and crazed. “That’s for us to know and you to DIE!” Izuki froze for a second on hearing that, though thankfully she wasn’t a target before resuming her stance. Tenya gave an enhanced roundhouse kick that knocked a Mole headfirst into a wall, having joined his friends in not holding back seeing as Imagin were among the sturdiest things in the world. And not human in the first place, born from the sands of time and trying to use human wishes against their contractors. “Now stand still and let me carve you all up!”

The three Kamen Riders in attendance all had one answer for that: “Hell no!” Hanran put his Ridewatch in the Zax’s slot, readying his finishing attack.  **“** **HANRAN! ROUGH CUTTING!** **”** Hitting his targeted Mole, it flew back into the one Tenya planted into the wall before the pair exploded. Zi-O kicked his own opponent into Rashin’s target, the white-clad Rider opening his Beyondriver  **“BEYOND THE TIME!”** and closed it. A cube of energy shot out, flying through the two Moles and damaging them a bit. Energy surrounded Rashin, who rushed forward, the characters for ‘Kick’ forming in green and flying around him. The vassal spun and brought his leg up, then slung it down in a hard ax kick, impacting the energy text into the Moles, which launched them up and into the cube.  **“TIME EXPLOSION!”** Which started a quick countdown to zero before it too exploded. No Imagin were left nearby, save the one Izuki had kicked away. And that one decided to beat a hasty retreat through the wall, leaving a hole that someone could follow through but it would be a tight fit for anyone there. As the teens moved towards it, the Riders all turned off their respective transformations. Takehiko scratched at his head before looking up. “We should probably get moving. Who knows if those explosions are gonna leave this place in one piece.”

As they all started to move again, he glanced at a particular spot. That shouldn’t be… Takehiko stepped closer to Izuki. Glancing around, he saw that Tooru was walking with Iida while Rashin and Hanran were behind them, one writing something in his personal journal while the other was shadow-fighting. Probably trying to get the best results for next time out of what just happened. It also meant there was a large gap between the four of them and the pair that met months ago. As they approached a certain spot, some dirt started to fall. Stopping time, Takehiko grasped Izuki’s body as she was in the middle of looking up and moved forward. Letting time resume, the pair found themselves cut off from the others by a minor cave-in. Or it would be if it stopped there! Takehiko cursed and ran with Izuki, who quickly overtook him thanks to her quicker and more powerful movements. Once the mine stopped collapsing behind them, they stood with only a small bit of panting between them. “...why’d you go this way? Shouldn’t we have gone back to the others?”

Amber eyes looked surprised for a second. “Uh… if I’d thought about that, maybe. But the first thing that came to mind is ‘get you safe.’ Didn’t even spare a thought for them, honestly.”

Freckled cheeks went red at that. “Oh. Uhm… thanks, Hikkun.” She kicked the ground shyly for a second before shaking herself. Looking to the collapsed hallway as she steadied her chest, Izuki frowned. “We probably can’t dig through that on our own, huh?”

“And I don’t know how long I can stay intangible with the GhostArmor yet. Rather not become stuck inside and suffocate.” Takehiko shrugged one shoulder. “There are bound to be plenty of other paths they can take. Let’s see if we can’t find one here ourselves, eh?”

Agreeing to that, Izuki walked alongside Takehiko as they started to try and find somewhere to leave. Or relax. A space with a bed or a pillow would be great, even if they would probably have to shake dirt and dust and who knows what off… maybe just a shirt as a pillow would be fine. Or a thigh… “Hikkun, you okay? Your face is red.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.” Takehiko rolled his shoulders before looking at Izuki. “How come I’m the reason you joined this little group?”

Izuki let out a squeak, pausing and reddening her own cheeks again. “Uhm. Well. You see…” Looking around, she saw that there wasn’t anyone nearby again. But there was a little offshoot not far away. “Ah, wh-what do you think is in th-here?!”

As the greenette moved to check it out, Takehiko chuckled. Even if he had managed to luck his way into Setsuna and getting Nejire back and even Artoria as well… surely he’d run out of luck already? Not to mention just being where he was at all. Kamen Rider Zi-O. He’d never thought he’d be a Rider, but the fantasies had sure been there. Along with a whole bunch of other possibilities. But first, he had to get out of this mine. Following Izuki into the room she’d run into, he glanced around. A table, some plates and utensils to a side, this was a mess hall. “Didn’t expect to see this here.”

Nodding and muttering to herself, Izuki was rummaging through some containers in the back. “It doesn’t look like they left any food here. Empty beer cans, but nothing useful.” Moving to the next one, she let out a surprised sound. “Hey, there’s a table cloth at least! It doesn’t look like anything has eaten it, too.” Bringing it out of the container, she saw that there were others like it. Meant for every table here, if her guess was right. Giving another container a light kick, Izuki jumped back with a squeak at it shaking. Something lived inside that one! “Hikkun, le-le-let’s go somewhere else!”

Takehiko walked forward, curious about the container. And then he turned right around, likely having stopped time. “Yeah, somewhere else is good. Leave the table cloth.” Izuki tossed the dusty thing back at the container she took it out of, and asked him to get some hand sanitizer out of her backpack. Once she’d cleaned up, the greenette jogged to catch back up with him. “So… think we’ll get out before the time limit?”

“I doubt they’d leave us in here for longer than necessary. And besides the Moles, cave-ins are probably accounted for. You’re smarter than me, what kind of prep would they do?” Takehiko looked at the shorter girl, who started to think. He could barely keep up with the mutter storm but as it went, a lot of what he understood sounded reasonable. “See? If you can think up all that, I bet our teachers managed about half of it.” Izuki laughed a little at hearing that. “Now let’s try to find somewhere to sit where bugs won’t be crawling all over us. I do want to eat soon.” That sounded great to her, so Izuki picked up the pace to try and find such a place. Takehiko fell behind again, their jogging speeds quite different from each other. But that was fine, she could probably

  1. Train him in the future
  2. Ride him so hard she couldn’t move
  3. Let him walk her like a wheelbarrow
  4. See what happened



FOUR DEFINITELY FOUR. Man, that was the first time in ages she hadn’t had three sexual options around Hikkun. Hopefully things would get easier to cope with later on. Or maybe…

Takehiko rose an eyebrow as Izuki found the room she wanted, a fairly empty space that didn’t have any tables or anything, certainly no containers. Though there were empty shelves on the walls. As the pair sat and started to take the food they’d packed out of their bags, they were quiet. Looking at his phone clock, they had already been in the mine for about six hours. That probably explained how hungry he was. As they ate, still they were quiet. Takehiko was fine with it, as he quite enjoyed his mother’s cooking. “Wanna try some, Izuki?”

She jolted at the question. Looking at their meals, she saw that they both had very different things for dinner. Her own seemed like just a lunch bento. His was a full-blown spaghetti and chicken meal. “Uhm. Sure. That sounds nice, thank you.” Taking a bit of chicken he cut off with her chopsticks, Izuki popped it in to chew. “...mmm! This is great!”

He grinned. “Yeah, I think Mom used her Quirk too. Cause I can probably walk for a couple more hours before we set up camp.” Izuki looked intrigued, and pulled out her notebook of random Quirk analyses. As he started to talk about Kazehime’s Quirk, she wrote down the details. Takehiko said that he was relaying the effects, and why his mom wasn’t allowed to work in any restaurants or schools even though she enjoyed cooking and had the right degrees for it. “She doesn’t like pastries though, though, which is the one type of thing she could legally sell. Not even the Rider Base can hire her, with the laws as they are.”

Izuki looked up from her writing. “That sounds real weird. What laws are in place to keep your mom from working?” Given his father’s Will, she didn’t have to. But he knew that Kazehime wasn’t always happy just sitting at home. And while she could work in other areas, the simple thought that she’d want to cook and bring in something for her co-workers made the widow pause, and ultimately stop. Once the greenette heard what laws were stopping her from working in places where selling food was the whole deal, her brows furrowed. “Real weird. I may not be learned about laws, but that’s… Are you gonna change it later? Cause it sounds a little in line with the Meta Liberation Army.”

Ah yes, that old thing. How something that old could still be talked about in some circ--”Hang on, how did you hear about them? There isn’t a lot of info about them and I only know because the Rider Base has some info. Tsukasa called it required reading.”

Izuki laughed a little. “I was… very curious about early Quirk thoughts. And the Meta Liberation Army came up in a few things I read. The manifesto itself wasn’t on shelves in the library I went to but I did find a few references to what they were like. Destro was apparently quite charismatic. The fact that he was marginalized for having a Quirk just sixty-some years ago…” She looked down at her hand. How much had things changed between the way the previous Wielders of One for All were seen, even as they fought a tyrant… And the last three, herself included, were Heroes in the public eye. This was just…

“Makes you wonder. What would they think if I had a ‘time manipulation meta ability’ rather than a ‘time manipulation Quirk’, eh?” Takehiko clenched his hand before looking up to his friend. “But hey. We’re here. And we’re going to make Japan better than it has been.”

Smiling widely at him, she reached over to bump fists. Talk quieted down as they focused on their thoughts and meals now. But before they left, Izuki decided to focus on something else. Tugging his sleeve, she looked up at him. “Let’s… make camp here. We can keep going later. There’s something important I want to tell you, Hikkun.” Curious, he nodded. The tent he had was barely big enough to hold him, but there was space for them both to sit in it. While he was curious why she hadn’t put her own tent up, Takehiko watched as Izuki started to strip her clothes off. “You remember when we were hit by that Another Bugster’s Game Area? Well, I was infected with a strain of Game Disease. But it wasn’t like anything Hojo-sensei saw.” Clad in just her sports bra and pants, Izuki crawled on top of the shirtless young man. Her green eyes trembled a little, as did the rest of her as she moved closer to his amber eyes. “I’ve been… living with some options showing up in my face occasionally. And the only way to make them stop is…”

Takehiko looked at her lips as she came in closer, and leaned in. Izuki moaned quietly as she finally got to do something she’d wanted for months. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she nearly bowled Takehiko down with how eager she was! No more options, she had chosen the path she wanted. Now it was time to play out this cutscene. Grinding a little into his stomach, she let out a squeak as one of his hands slipped under her sports bra. Breaking the kiss, the greenette let out a moan that conveyed to him just how much she wanted this. Removing the last article of clothing on her torso, the future King groaned as he took in just what she’d been hiding for so long. These were just about as big as Arturia’s, or maybe bigger. Izuki was taller than her too…

Focusing on now, he moved one of the glorious globes of flesh to his mouth. Her hands either side of his head, Izuki let out a long sound of pleasure as her sensitive nipple was licked and nibbled. She leaned down slowly, pressing the boob against Takehiko’s face some. He started working off her belt and pants with his hands, focusing his head on her chest before the girl jerked back. A quick but loud moan told him that she was definitely close, and as he let go of her nipple, the breast bounced back into position. Izuki sat up, and reached down to take her pants off herself. After a bit of struggle, Takehiko got to see that she had a form much closer to that vaunted hourglass than Arturia who was almost an upside-down pear. It was very interesting to feel Izuki’s round hips and fleshy backside under his exploring hands. “Hey… yo-you’re too dressed!”

She started to undo his own belt and pants, pushing the hidden Jikuu Driver off as she began to feel him against her. The feeling of his shaft against her shaved bald lips was amazing, how could he be so hot?! Izuki slowly lifted herself up as she looked down at him. Once Takehiko was in place, she let herself fall onto him. Another loud and quick sound, this time more discernible as a yell, left her lips before the young woman started getting used to him inside her. Takehiko pulled her down to him, and chuckled a little as the curvy greenette barely reached his chin with her wild hair. With some slow movements, he started to get her used to him spreading her wide. Izuki put her hands on his chest, pushing up to a sitting position and moaning out lowly as she became accustomed to him. As much as a former virgin could so soon, anyway. With her arms almost cupping the underside of her own chest, the future greatest Hero watched him as she started bouncing slowly. She quite enjoyed his hands on her ass, kneading and molding it as he wished. “Hikkun… ou-sama…”

Izuki gasped as he thrust in fast and deep on hearing that. “My KiiiiIIIING!” Her head rolled back, feeling him start to thrust up and keep at it hard. After all, if there was one big aphrodisiac for Takehiko, it was calling him that. She let out a groan before feeling him pull her back down. Switching their positions, she looked up at him and felt her arms come down. It was probably best she keep her own chest from bouncing too high. Especially as Takehiko spread her legs as far as the tent would allow, bringing more sounds of pleasure from her body. Not just up in her mouth, but their squelching bodies as the young woman arched her back off the sleeping bag and came.

The heady feeling of Hikkun being not too far behind, filling her up quite well, made Izuki all too happy to be stuck in an abandoned mine with him. The lights turning off outside the tent just made things more intimate for her as she started to experiment with positions and the ways she could wring cum out of Hikkun. The college students would certainly leave their mark on this place as they coupled more and more.

The next few days in the mine went about the same. Izuki and Takehiko tried to find a way out going down this or that passageway they found, though at some point she stopped bringing panties out of her bag. Occasionally they fought a Mole Imagin, but those were rarer than long stretches of boredom only punctuated by food and talk. New pants were good for keeping bugs off, but the nights made panties a bad idea because they’d be torn off. Literally, as their third night together demonstrated. Reckless as they were with these consecutive nights, the pair were enjoying themselves too much to stop. But it was the sixth lunch they shared that something different happened.

A drilling on the wall made them stand up, ready to fight another Mole off. But the drilling stopped with the face of a different person on the other side of the broken down wall. “There you are! Come on, let’s get going. You two have been down here way too long!” The miner who found them was using a black-and-green painted drill, the golden horn on every corner showing it to be a Zeronos-branded machine. Once their food was put away, the pair of students walked with the woman out through the path that was… well, they didn’t quite know how it connected to the one they’d been on. But according to the miner leading them out, as she reported in that she’d found the pair of students who seemed healthy despite being down here for nearly a week, things had been a bit louder outside than they expected. For one thing, Takehiko would need to get right to work. There were a couple Another Riders causing havoc in different parts of Japan and he needed to take a helicopter to get to either of them in any appreciable time once they were out. Though it seemed very silly to him that the Fourze and Faiz Another Riders showed up around the same time, Zi-O knew he’d need to handle things quickly. Hopefully before they made wastelands of their respective combat zones. Meteor had been fighting Another Fourze with the actual astronaut Rider in space and unable to return quickly. But Another Faiz was apparently an experienced fighter because he was making a giant mess of the various Pro Heroes sent to take him down. No casualties on either end, but that was being chalked up to time and luck rather than any real work on the Pro Heroes’ part for now.

Once he was out of the tunnel, Takehiko ran to the helicopter with the Rider Base’s logo on it. He needed to get to work and fast! Izuki blocked her eyes to avoid getting dust in them, and smiled up at the helicopter before turning to a very unamused Aizawa-sensei. Eraserhead was not going to let her off of this easily...


	11. Chaldea Sports Festival

Walking onto the campus with his mom beside him again, Takehiko hummed to himself as he shook out his hand. Kazehime looked down then up to his face curiously. “Just some jitters is all. Nothing to worry about, Mom.” Smiling at her, he brought his gaze back to the path they’d take so he could drop her off at the private box Tsukasa reserved for himself and her.  _ “...if he so much as flirts with her, I don’t care if he’s Decade. Bastard is not going to last long in this world.” _

Calming his thoughts, he glanced around. Not many students had their parents here, but there were a lot of Pro Heroes here. Some of them were labelled ‘Sidekicks’ since they worked under ‘actual Pros’, but he knew that legally there were no such things. Takehiko wondered when it came about that employees of a Pro Hero Agency became called Sidekicks? That was a much nicer bit of obscure info he’d like to hear. Izuki probably knew…

That name brought to mind the fun time he’d had last night, and the way he’d introduced Izuki to Setsuna. Hopefully his first girlfriend would be understanding about the blonde he hadn’t told her about yet, but considering she’d been quite willing to watch him wreck Izuki last night over the vidcall, Takehiko figured things would work out fine. But he’d schedule an in-person meeting, just to be sure. It was a little harder for Artoria to meet up with Setsuna than Izuki seeing as he went to school with only one of them. He wanted to be sure Setsuna was actually okay with Izuki first before he set that up.

For the moment though, he was unable to do that. After all, he had some days of fun and excitement to look forward to. This may not be a Cultural Festival where there’d be all other sorts of things going on, but Chaldea had its own arena. As they walked towards it, some student-made stalls were up, but most of the Pro Heroics majors were going to be inside. Like Takehiko himself, walking with his mom up some stairs. “My, this is quite the event! My college years weren’t quite this elaborate. We were a pretty small place, though, compared to this.”

He chuckled at that. “Yes, the fifth best baking school in Japan. Small. Sure, Mom. What kind of events  _ did _ happen when you were my age, anyway?”

Kazehime thought of that, humming as she sifted memories. “Well… I met your father during one of them. We were holding a tug of war competition for anyone to join, mostly locals that didn’t go to our school. My current boyfriend was trying to tug it against your father, and his team lost. He was quite the sore loser! When I apologized to your father on his behalf, he just laughed it off. A few… things happened, and later that same week I was dating him.”

Takehiko looked at her curiously. “I didn’t know you dated other people before Dad. What drew you to him?”

His mother thought on that for a bit.

_ “Get back here, you bitch!” _

_ “Come on, in here. You’ll be safe, I promise.” _

_ “STOP IT!” _

_ “...see? I told you… safe…” _

“...Takeshi was pretty funny. I liked that he made me laugh.” She smiled a little, but he had a feeling there was a story there he wouldn’t be hearing. Not any time soon, anyway. “Oh, isn’t that Kadoya-san?”

Takehiko looked ahead, and nodded. “That’s Tsukasa. Dunno who he’s talking to though.” That anyone with blonde hair that long and thick would talk to him was a bit of a mystery. As they went closer to the pair that hadn’t noticed them yet, the Tamashiro family was quiet. Their curiosity had been piqued and if they walked quietly enough, maybe they’d hear what they were talking about? But by the time they hit the halfway point from the spot Kazehime had seen them, the blonde woman started walking away from the Rider Base’s leader. Damn, that was a hip sway… “Hey there, Tsukasa. Who was that?”

The brunet turned to look at the pair. “Hm? Oh, just someone you’ll get to know real soon. I won’t spoil the surprise. So! Tamashiro-san, why don’t we go on in while your son heads to the locker room? He does need to get ready.” That prompted a nod from the student before the mother and son bid each other a good time, and with one last hug he departed. “Our seats are in here. You ever been in a private box before? The novelty wore off for me but I look forward to your reactions!”

Takehiko rolled his eyes as the door closed and Tsukasa led Kazehime to her seat. The future King used time manipulation to get moving quicker, seeing as no one was around to tell him not to stop time. As he slipped around people on his way down, he thought he recognized… Three steps back, and start time. He smiled at Medusa, the purplette squeaking as she bumped into him chest first. “Takehiko! I didn’t… You weren’t there a second ago!”

“I wasn’t. How’re you doing?”

She smiled at him. “I’m alright. A little sad my mother won’t be here, but I can handle that since I have friends to enjoy the events with. What do you think they’ll be?”

Takehiko shook his head. “No idea. I looked up Chaldea’s past and the last few years kept being random. Last year, the second years had to decide if a fight would happen by flipping a coin and seeing if they got heads or tails both. I doubt that will happen here, but it was certainly weird to read about.”

Medusa nodded, agreeing with that. “Indeed… Did the fighters just step back if they didn’t?” As he started telling her about that weird system, they turned down a few corridors. After winding their way to the final hallway where they’d split up and join the various students that would be taking part in the Sports Festival, the purplette bit her lip before taking hold of his hand. “Takehiko. If I manage to get a good standing, could you… do me a favor?”

He blinked and nodded. “I’ll do you a favor even without, Medusa. What’s up?”

She rubbed her arm a little as the thought hit. Takehiko watched her take in a deep breath before stepping closer to his side. “If I make it to the top ten today, would you… take me out on a date later this week?” She turned suddenly stern square pupils on his round ones. “And I do mean the top ten. If I get eleventh overall, don’t ask. I want to earn this.”

The future King nodded slowly before smiling at her. “Alright. If you manage to win everything, I’ll do my best to rock your world that night. But everything from two to ten, I’ll just take you out on a good date.” Medusa blushed a bit at the teasing as usual, but she kissed his cheek before heading off to the locker room to change. “...how the hell am I so lucky?”

Takehiko hummed. This probably explained part of his luck today. In his locker had been a note from the officials: He had one use of time stopping. He could slow down time around him as he liked, but actual stopping was only able to be done  _ once _ . He’d need to hold on to that for a while, he figured. And while he wore his Jikuu Driver, he wouldn’t be using it. It’d be cheating to do that, but he still kept it on as his belt or it’d sit in a pocket. The only times a Kamen Rider wasn’t supposed to have their belt at hand or on them was when they were being intimate or asleep. And Takehiko was very good about that.

As he went into the waiting room with some of the other male participants, he looked around. These were most of the Pro Heroics majors, though the small crowd around one of them brought him short. Which wasn’t quite a surprise, seeing as it was one of the brightest stars in their year. Takehiko wondered what it was like, being able to receive the commendation Saber so early in the year? As some others praised an impatient but passive Yagyu, the amber-eyed young man sat on a chair and made sure his workout shoes were tied on well. He glanced up as someone else sat with him. “Clay. How’re you today?”

The greenet nodded, smiling some. “I’m alright. Looking forward to this, since I’ve never seen a college sports festival before.”

Humming at that, Takehiko sat up after giving his laces a tug. “Most of them are fairly low-key and local. But we have three schools in Japan that are broadcast nationally. U.A.U., Chaldea, and Sasisuseso. That last one bought the ability thanks to some sponsors back in America but they’re actually like, tenth in the country. They put out some good Pro Heroes but most of their graduates are eternal Sidekicks. That’s if they don’t go into other fields like military or police work.”

Clay looked at him curiously. “Tenth? Their sponsors must have a lot of money… I’ve never heard of Sasesuse… Sisysus… Sa-si-su-se-so, so how... Actually, what does the ranking really mean? Cause I know that Oxford and Cambridge went back and forth and then dipped and rose themselves.”

Takehiko opened his mouth to answer, but the words were drowned by an announcement to gather in the stadium. He talked with the American as they went out. The various young men and women, and a few older than them, all mingled as they tried to find a good spot to watch and listen. The teacher that would apparently be their referee this year was The Count, dressed in his full attire that probably was not a good choice in the summer but… “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! I am your referee and master of ceremonies, Edmond Dantes. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO!” He used his Quirk flashily, black and white lightning dancing around him as people cheered around the stadium. “However, I am not the reason you are here today! No, that honor belongs to these fine men and women before me!” The man with white hair smirked at the students. “These people are here to show us what it means to be Heroes! Even if they are in training.”

As the students began to pose a little throughout the crowding, the podium Edmond stood at began to rise up. From on high, he looked at the students as the hovering platform moved high. “I’ll be watching from an impartial area so that none of you will be cheating. Now then,” the podium began to fold in on itself while he adjusted the mic hanging from his ear, and motioned to one of the giant screens above the spectators, “our first event! Randomly selected from a variety of ideas earlier this year, we begin with…

“PAINT WAR!” The picture on screen was of some competitors from a different year, who were all in various states of covered in paint. “This year, there are no teams for the war! You will work to lower your numbers from, FOUR-HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FIVE… TO SIXTY!” Cheers and gasps and groans rang out at that. After all, that meant a  _ lot _ of people would be getting covered in paint somehow. Edmond grinned as he sat on the chair. “Your starting weapons will be at the edge of the arena. If you are eliminated, you must drop your weapon and hold both hands high.”

Gears turned as the various students went about arming themselves. Most took paint guns of varying types while some took rollers or brushes that were certainly not able to be used in a studio. Takehiko, for instance, was holding a giant roller that looked like it would be equivalent to a two-handed sword if it had a blade. “Where do they get the makers of these things?”

Once everything was ready to go, the students armed and the floor opened up to have a terrain where people could actually take cover, Edmond held up a hand. “You have five minutes to find a good spot to begin! Once that time is up, the round will last until we are down to sixty competitors left!” His gold eyes watched as the students began to make their way around things. Some chose spots where they could easily shoot at the person(s) next to them, others decided to find a space where they were protected on nearly all sides. Only two made use of the bunkers newly formed in the arena. And one young man moved across all of that to stand smack in the center. His two-handed roller was currently leaning lightly on his shoulder. Smirking, the Underground Hero rubbed his chin. Almost no one used the absolute center because it was one of the worst places to be. One of the barricades around it, maybe. But this kid chose to stand away from even those. Bold. He liked it. “Five minutes are up in three… two… one… SHOW ME YOUR ABILITY!”

Parts of the stadium floor erupted into action immediately. Among them, three people aimed at the idiot in the very center of the map. Who became a blur as he ducked around two of the paint projectiles coming his way. Takehiko swung his roller at the only man to aim at him, sending him out with a big magenta stripe over his side. Hearing the commentators go over what he’d just done and then move to something else interesting, the future King kept his time slowing going. He’d just cut a swath of people out as he went from the center on out. It was pretty fun, until he saw something that changed his course. Medusa was doing well with her dual paint pistols, her hair tied up in a ponytail that was still a very big target. And yet she managed to whip it just right, though Artoria was less pleased. Her paint assault rifle was apparently jammed as she was trying to whack it back into working order. Hidden at the same barricade Medusa was using, the blonde was frowning to herself. They both looked good in their still spotless sweatsuits… focus. He had a job to do.

Takehiko swept his roller along the path of some paint, smirking as he showed off something only those with great reflexes or perception boosters would be able to do reliably. Newly loaded, he moved to help with the side Artoria was apparently supposed to be on since Medusa was ducking and weaving from shots in that direction while shooting elsewhere. Once their little area was free from people, Medusa and Artoria looked at each other before aiming at him. That just got Takehiko to laugh in real time before he zipped away again. If they didn’t want to team up now, he’d be fine with that! Just meant he could keep eliminating people himself.

As he went for a different part of the arena, Takehiko heard the commentators saying something, and ducked behind a stout barrier as he let time resume normal speed. “--down to just three hundred participants! Ladies and gents, let’s make things a little more interesting! Hope you’re quick footed because parts of the floor are gonna be lav--” He slowed time again, hopping up onto the barrier. And good thing too, because the area glowed red thanks to lights in the floor, and it snaked around to other places. “If you want to stay in, stay out of the lava! We already lost ten participants to it!”

Ten people, just from the lights turning on? Hopefully he wasn’t one of them. Well, his name was… not darkened. Takehiko hopped from one barricade to the next, searching for opponents to take out. Moving faster than them was certainly a boon right now. Especially when he came upon a group of people that were slow to react because he was just moving faster than their minds could comprehend. Hopping up, he took in the lights on the ground, which were off. So he went back to normal time as he slashed his paint roller along their bodies. With five more people out, they were getting that much closer to finishing this.

It was an experience that Takehiko would be just fine not taking part in again as he eliminated students from the stadium. And the ‘rising lava tide’ was not good on his nerves! But at least that and restocks on paint were the only curveballs thrown at the Chaldean students. After a good hour of exertion, he landed on a rock and almost let himself fall into the lava light before hearing a voice call out something interesting. Letting time resume normal speed, he looked at the referee. “--THE GROUP TO CONTINUE ON! Bravo, and brava! Look at the board to know if you truly are or aren’t among those going forward.”

All he needed was to see that he was going forward before stretching out. Walking to the edge of the fight area, he’d put his giant roller sword away before walking out of the arena entirely. Time to get some food, though sadly not with his mom. The students who were moving forward were apparently needing to put on swimsuits soon, provided by Chaldea. Takehiko would do that after he ate. As he walked to the cafeteria, he saw that a lot of students were dejectedly heading for the stands rather than a student watch area. They eliminated over four hundred students after all, so…

Setting foot in the cafeteria, Takehiko was in line for about two minutes before he was run into from behind. A short frame with big pillows was against his back. “Congrats.”

He turned his head, smiling at the tall purplet and the short blonde that had found him. “Congrats yourselves. How’re you feeling about the next round?” Takehiko turned back to the line after Artoria tugged on his shirt. They moved forward as he listened, nodding. “Yeah, it is a little weird that we don’t know what’s going on. But thanks to the instructions, at least we know we’ll be doing some swimming. Which is way better than just being dunked into the pool they’re filling up.”

Medusa nodded, glancing at a TV hanging from the ceiling. They could all see that the stadium previously filled with barricades and little hills was now flat, being filled with water. As it reached some unknown line, some staff members started to toss foam platforms in. Or she thought they were foam, sitting down with her friends as they watched or ate. They’d all had the thought some food first was better than going right to the swimsuits. Even as they started to eat, others came into the cafeteria wearing the Chaldea Swim Team uniform, sometimes with just the jersey on, sometimes just pants. Some wore nothing but their shoes and the swimsuit. Looking at the front, it was fine. But Medusa was less than enthusiastic about the back of the swimsuit. Now that she thought about it, her hair would probably be an issue as well. Hm… Well, at least they wouldn’t be in the water for very long. Platforms meant less swimming and more being dunked, and the Greek student was not going to be getting wet today.

Artoria frowned a little at the long legs on display around her, even by some of the Japanese students. The short blonde wasn’t going to show off the most beautiful body, she knew that others literally stood taller so she’d be fighting to get attention normally. But this, this was a day where the cameras would be on her! All kinds of people would be looking. Oh, it just made her tingle to think about. How many would see her in that swimsuit and imagine her in something different? Or even less? She rubbed her thighs together as the thought circulated and looped and became so much more. ...Takehiko would like it. Like her in it. And she’d have to find a way to take it out, or just buy one normally. A lot of women were wearing it well, so surely he’d appreciate her in it. Just the way he had when Artoria had worn that lingerie for him. And while he was doing that, she’d knock him off a platform and go on to win this. Maybe even use her Quirk too, since there hadn’t been much chance for it in the paint war.

As they went to get dressed, and then right to the arena, the students had varying levels of concentration on the task ahead. Not just Takehiko and his friends, but the other fifty-some students who were taking part in this event. Some thought it would be fun, others looked forward to putting themselves on display for the sake of it, a few figured they’d have the chance to make some impressions on Hero Agencies, and another group were wondering what sort of farce their skills would be wasted in. Soon the sixty students that would be taking part in this water event stood in a crowd with a few stragglers here and there around the new pool filled with square platforms floating about. At some point, Edmond had left and put on his own swim trunks, and a pair of yellow sunglasses, though he kept his hat and giant cloak-like coat on. “Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen. We have a special event this year for our freshman! Rather than any game of chicken or a swim race, we’ll be splitting these young men and women into teams! At max, we’ll have twenty as the smallest size is three people to a team. The largest team size is 5 people. What for, you may ask?” He waved a hand behind him at the giant screen. It was a black screen with no picture, only some characters showing up in multiple languages: KEIJO. “The recently ratified international sport of keijo! You may call it other things in other countries, but the principle is the same. You have two direct weapons in this sport: Your chest, and your rear end! If I see any limbs being used for your attempts to bump your opponent off the swaying platform, I  _ will _ disqualify you there and then. However, your remaining team can continue.

“The objective of this round is to be the last one in the water when the buzzer hits. You’ll be fighting as one unit all over the pool, but the ones moving on will not be the teams that last. Rather, the individuals who are still on a platform! This will last until one hour has passed or we reach ten participants. In the event we have more than ten people… well, you’ll see our plans for that.” Some of the students were already buzzing a little on hearing they’d be playing keijo, but this last statement made them quiet for the most part. Edmond knew how to turn the volume up and down, it seemed. “Now, begin finding your teammates! You have fifteen minutes. After that, you’ll have five minutes to finish putting on the equipment coming up from the ground now. Each set is for one person, but if you don’t want to use it that is understandable.”

Takehiko moved to grab his friends, grinning at Artoria and Medusa. And much as the pair didn’t want to rely on him for this, the girls also knew that having a time manipulator on their side was just too good a ticket to pass up. With the nearest teammates made, he glanced around. “Now where is Clay… Frances would also be good for this too.”

It seemed other people had the same idea, because he could see the curvy Englishwoman being talked to by more than a few people who wanted to have her on their team. But it seemed she was declining them all. After asking Medusa and Artoria to find Clay, he made his way over. Standing on the end of the small crowd, he raised a hand. “Frances!”

The men and women around her suddenly started to groan as she told them something and some dispersed. After there was sufficient space, the young woman walked up to Takehiko and gave his bare chest a light punch. “About time! I was wondering when I’d see you today. You weren’t in the cafeteria while I was eating.”

He just laughed a little, and took in how the swimsuit conformed to her body quite well. So that was three people who had sideboob going on just from wearing it… Takehiko tilted his head. “Let’s get going. My team is this way, and we should have a full roster now with you.” As they walked, he glanced at the pinkette. “And you didn’t see me cause I put my trunks on second. Ate first.”

Frances nodded at that, understanding. She’d put on only the swimsuit and her shoes before going to get food. It was a little funny just how people reacted to her as she did that simple act. “Who is on our team? Knowing you, probably some knockouts, eh?”

She grinned up at him, and it struck him that Frances was actually a lot shorter than he’d realized. Her normal choice of boots kept her closer to Medusa’s height, but without them she was not as tall as the purplette. Takehiko just nodded after letting this realization wash over him. “Mostly. There’s myself, you, Medusa, Artoria, and Clay.”

That made her laugh again. “Oh, not getting a bunch of girls to be your water-wrestle team? I figured you’d be the first one to make it look like you have a harem going. You normally do outside after all!” Takehiko didn’t look too embarrassed, considering that was his plan. It just didn’t make sense to only have four members on the team when he could get his friends in one place and they’d all go to the finals. That seemed the best method. And it’d let Medusa try her hand against him in a one-on-one bout later. “Issat Clay? Man, he looks good in that… and tiny. Was he always that thin?”

Takehiko looked over curiously. Clay wasn’t that thin he thought. Plenty of muscle, though he was leaner than his clothes made him seem. The greenet with short, straight hair was talking to Medusa and Artoria, the chain generator seeming excited for something. Walking towards them and admiring the bared backs of the girls for a moment, the time manipulator waved and fistbumped Clay. “You make it look like we’re here for a photo shoot, man.”

He chuckled some, and pat the waistband of his swim trunks. “They’re nothing special. Everyone else has one after all.” His green-gold eyes looked around some. “So the five of us, meaning we can make up half of the tournament bracket. Pretty good plan.”

Medusa blinked before turning suddenly frustrated square pupils on Takehiko. Frances shrugged, grinning. “I think there’s merit to it. Means that we don’t have to worry too much about how the others will have or use their Quirks or fighting styles. I’m all down for minimizing risk!” The pinkette chuckled when Artoria looked at her quizzically before the shortest member of their team turned her golden eyes away from their heads. “Now we just need to eliminate everyone else.”

Takehiko looked to the blonde for a moment before following her gaze. Ah. Yeah, she was very comparable to the others in terms of size. Heck, Medusa was probably a little smaller now that he had a very direct point of view on them all… FOCUS

He looked around. While the compositions of the other teams didn’t matter much to him, the who did. And he saw that Yagyu was standing next to just two people, one a solid twenty or so centimeters shorter than either him or the tallest guy in the team. The blonde with a ponytail seemed quite excited, while the men were calm and waiting. Yagyu was stone, but the man with scruffy hair and very thick sideburns seemed angry about something. Aside from them, the only ones that stood out to him were Karna and Arjuna at opposite sides of the pool, talking with their own teams, while Teach’s team was very much ignoring his whining about only being on a team of men.

Turning his attention back to his own group, Takehiko smiled. “I think we’ve got this in the bag. Let’s go show the rest what we already know, eh?”

There were a variety of reactions to that, but they were all affirmative. Medusa was quiet and Clay was calm, Frances was raring to go, and Artoria was seemingly stoic but for the nod and intense gaze she gave. Which was good, because they were all told to get in and find a starting platform for their own teams without swimming. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the round of keijo! To begin, you find yourselves on these platforms without opponents.” Edmond looked around, smirking some. “You were told to get here without swimming. And I am glad to see you all managed that. It wouldn’t be quite as fun if I had to disqualify anyone before we even started.” The Frenchman listened to his earpiece for a second before nodding. “We won’t be setting your opponents. You are! You must leave your platform or wait for others to join before you can begin to take part in keijo, and the only way to advance is for your team to have at least one member dry once the buzzer stops. If you dry off outside the arena, you can come back in but only once per team! Choose wisely who comes back and when.

“With sixty of you in play, fifty people will not be moving forward. We will be stopping once there are only ten people left in the arena. However! You will be competing for points just as you will for eliminations! Every player is worth one point, on their own. You must knock your opponent into the water to get them added to your tally. And if you managed to knock out the last of a team, you receive their points entirely! I look forward to seeing the totals at the end.” Edmond smirked some as the students all looked a little less calm at hearing that. All their work, stolen? Damn. “This means that even if you get into the top ten survivors, you will not be guaranteed a place in the next round. You must also do well against your opponents and drive them into the brine yourself. We begin in THREE! TWO! ONE!”

Takehiko brought his gaze down to the other competitors, trying to gauge who a good first would be. “GO!” And he did, rushing for a team tha--fuuuuuck these platforms weren’t stable at all! Firm, but he would definitely have gone under rather than have a solid jumping point. “Oh, and if you dunk yourself, you aren’t allowed back up unless you’re dry again, same as if you’re knocked out.”

Right. He looked to his team, only one of whom looked openly excited to be here. Medusa seemed to be a little off-balance more from the platform than what he saw flicker through her eyes, but the others were fine. Takehiko turned to look at his original target. He then took a step back, watching the young man flail a little as he landed on one foot awkwardly. Smirking some, the amber-eyed young man moved forward and smacked their chests together. The wannabe pirate fell down, cursing the bishounen for having his harem of blrghle. Takehiko turned away from the downed Teach and started to plan how he would do this. He sidled away from the edge of his starting platform, not wanting to be taken out too easily.

Sadly, his plan ended up being very easily dismantled as the time manipulator was hit on the butt by another, sent stumbling forward. Thankfully, Teach had already left by the time Takehiko tumbled into the steadily more turbulent water. He grumbled a little as he swam to an edge of the pool, listening to others pairing off or falling down. He wondered how long this would last in all?

Pulling himself up, he turned and kept his legs in the pool as he watched. It was quite the nice temperature after all, and today was already pretty hot. Though as he shivered a little from the stagnant breeze brushing by, Takehiko thought a towel would be great. Or a shirt. Maybe he’d get one later. Well, yes, he would, they’d probably not be doing the tournament phase in swimsuits. Though that would be a little funny…

Oh, there went Yagyu’s tall teammate. The man seemed to scream out something as Artoria held up a V For Victory. Then she turned away from the splash to continue dismantling others with her short size allowing the others who were all a few centimeters or more to just glaze over her bun until she got right in their face. Medusa grimaced a little whenever the platform she was on moved too much, but she was doing pretty well as Frances’s second. Defense and offense where the pinkette teammate was focusing on just causing as much damage as possible. It was amazing how these bodies honed for Pro Heroics could be used for sports. And one of the most raunchy at that. Takehiko was so glad keijo had been made. Such a wonderful sight. Looking for Clay, he saw the only other boy on their team was faring a little better than he had but it wouldn’t be long before the greenet joined him outside.

But the man was definitely getting some more points than he’d managed, which was quite good. However, Clay was still the twentieth person to be knocked into the water. Which was much better than second, but at least the girls were making up for their deficiencies in the sport. Takehiko quite enjoyed the show as well, seeing as there were quite a number of good looking people still on the platforms. Well, good looking women, but he could appreciate the fact that Arjuna and Karna and Yagyu were all probably objectively more handsome than him. That said, he was still the one with more than three lovers. So he had something they didn’t, like a sexuality that let him appreciate the female form. Oh, he’d need to thank Nejire for that again some day soon. After the Sports Festival was over sounded like a plan.

He turned his attention to the proceedings and rose an eyebrow. The number of contestants that were still dry had thinned. Clay was… right next to him, woops. Yagyu himself was out, while Arjuna stood tall on a platform opposite Karna. They were glaring at each other, likely trying to plan out their clash. The blonde on Yagyu’s team was squared off against a young man that looked exhausted. Artoria, Medusa and Frances were in a triangle formation, each looking at two opponents. A fifteenth contestant stood away from all the ruckus, watching with arms crossed over her chest. “...this looks like it's going to be rough. I’ll admit, I haven’t been focusing on the action much. How’ve they been doing?”

Clay chuckled some. “They’re doing pretty darn well! And those people are gonna have their hands full trying to knock any of them out, because all three of them have been pretty good against two people on their own so far. And if they try to split up and reinforce the others, our girls will take them down with some great teamwork. I have no doubt we’ll be going forward, seeing we’re in second place and all.” The greenet nodded to the blonde with a ponytail. “She managed well for herself after Saber got taken down quick-like. Ganged up on, and a couple idjits grabbed him before jumping out. Disqualified themselves from moving on even if their team managed to win, but Saber wasn’t allowed back up.”

Takehiko nodded, taking in the scenery. He was curious how this would go, and quite hoped that at least one of the girls stayed in. Twenty-two points was nothing to sneeze at. Even if first was only a few points away. The six people surrounding his friends moved in, figuring they had the best chance if they just ganged up on the girls. Even though they all had much curvier, thicker, and likely stronger bodies than the two girls coming in and all had better technique than anyone else so far. Or at least had learned enough to turn the tables easily. He grinned as they showed his thoughts to be true, dispatching three of their assailants with moves that sent many things jiggling. Including the water, jostling the platforms. Which helped the ponytailed blonde take her opponent to the water, and sending Karna in as well. The pale and thin man wasn’t as balanced as he’d hoped, and Arjuna pushed him back hard. The buzzer went off as Arjuna pumped a fist high. “That’s the second round over! The points have been tallied, and the ones moving forward are…”

The screen switched to purely blank for a moment before faces started showing up and sliding to the side as their names were called. Takehiko was glad to finally have a name for Okiko Souji. Yagyu Munenori, huh? And her last teammate was Hijikata Toransou. Meanwhile, Takehiko grinned at his own face showing up, followed by his friends’. Ninth was the still triumphant Arjuna, while his still dry teammate was the girl who’d stood away from everyone else, Anahita Parvaneh Attar. She was about as tall as Frances but the dark-skinned girl was much less outwardly visible. Her purple hair cut into a spiky bob was cute and accented her sharp features, but Takehiko wondered what her Quirk was. Her swimsuit looked slick with something and it certainly wasn’t water given he saw a discoloration on hers that the other girls didn’t have. The remaining teams were a group of three young men that hadn’t gotten any substantial points and a boy that had missed his chance to earn anything to try and come on top.

Edmond stood up from his chair, his voice booming out to the audience. “We’ll be taking another short break to let the remaining competitors change at their leisure, and to empty out the pool. One that is done, the ten on the screen will be moving into our final round! Are you excited for them?!” The Frenchman grinned as the audience roared, in the stadium and at home. “We are too! Get some snacks and don’t turn that dial, we’ll be right back with some clips from some games that our other students have been playing while this was going on. And once everyone is ready, but the final round begins!”

Takehiko laughed a little as he walked with Clay to where the other three had hopped out of the pool and were making their way down to the locker rooms. “This is going to be an interesting one. Looking forward to that match, Medusa? We’ll get to see how well you can do against others and myself.”

Frances looked at the purplette curiously. She nodded. “I don’t know when we’ll fight, but I won’t lose. You’re not going to see me backing down, Takehiko!”

He reached over, and smiled at her as Medusa fistbumped him. “Good luck to us both. First, we have to get through everyone else. Unless we get set against each other, eh?” Takehiko chuckled before turning down a corridor away from the girls. “See you soon!” Walking with Clay, he glanced at the greenet who seemed very amused. “What? Never seen someone do that in person before?”

“Nope. But I’m certain things will go well with her after this, however it turns out.” Clay gave his shoulder a light swat with the back of his hand before turning to the locker he’d put his clothes in. Takehiko did the same, the two taking a shower before getting dressed in their college’s tracksuits again. Walking out, Clay rubbed his chin and held out a hand as he let a chain tipped with his personal touch, a golden weight that looked a bit like a spearpoint, dangle and sway as they traversed the corridor. “What do you think the brackets will look like?”

Takehiko shook his head. “I don’t want to speculate on that. There’s a four in nine chance that I’ll have to fight one of my friends first, after all. Just because I can doesn’t mean it’d be fun to, this time. Y’know?” He glanced down the hallway the girls’ locker room was in. “And anyway, we have other things to focus on right now. How big of a show do you think we can make for the Pro Heroes here and from abroad?”

That got Clay to focus on the peripheral effects of the Sports Festival. He didn’t know what kind of Pro he’d want to work with for the next couple weeks as an intern, or even if he’d get offers from one that fit his requirements. That brought to mind the question of what kind of Pro Hero he wanted to be, seeing as he was here to learn just that. He knew what he wanted to do  _ after _ being one, retire to his family’s estate and enjoy the fruits of his labor, but what was the path to getting there? How would he show the world his version of Heroism and how it’d change lives?

The greenet was lost in thought up until he walked into the steps leading up. Takehiko caught his shoulder, and they shared a short laugh before they went up. They weren’t the first ones up, but they weren’t the last. Yagyu’s team were the only ones on the arena, even Edmond wasn’t there right now. Probably still changing back into his suit. Walking towards them, Takehiko nodded to them. “Hey. Nice to meet you all. I’m Takehiko Tamashiro, Pro Heroics major. You all?” He held out a hand to shake for anyone who wanted it.

The only one to take him up on that was Okiko. “Hi there, Tamashiro-san! I’m Okiko Souji, theatrics major. This has been quite the day so far, huh?” The ponytailed blonde brought her arms behind her back, smiling up at him and being introduced to Clay in turn. “This is Hijikata Toransou, my senpai in theatrics! He looks grumpy but he’s a nice guy.”

Hijikata humphed at that, crossing his arms and showing that there were only two people on this stage that could physically look down at Takehiko right now. But his sharp black eyes fell on the grey eyed girl. “Not your senpai.”

Okiko shook her head. “Yes you are! After all, you’ve been in this since we were in middle school. I only started being serious about theater and acting in high school.”

Takehiko found the back-and-forth that quickly developed to be quite amusing before turning to the last one to talk to right now. His hand was slapped away instead of being shaken however, which got the eyes all around to turn to Yagyu. “Leave me be. Your platitudes are not needed and I don’t want to play at being friends with anyone. There are more important things to focus on. Shouldn’t you know that better than anyone here, Kamen Rider Zi-O?” The swordsman’s hard brown eyes focused on Takehiko’s amber pair. “You’ve had that belt buckle and Ridewatch in your pocket for every event so far, after all.”

That brought around some raised eyebrows. “...just because I’m at ease doesn’t mean I can’t be ready quickly, you know. I know how quickly things can go badly. I’ve dealt with a few Villains so far after all.”

Yagyu nodded. “Exactly. So what are you doing here instead of out on the streets?” He poked Takehiko’s chest. “You and your belt shouldn’t be in school, or doing this frivolous activity that only exists so that others may take us under their wing. Leave and be useful.”

Clay looked at him with eyes wide, Okiko was surprised to hear all that, Hijikata was watching quietly but with a scowl. Takehiko frowned at him before smirking. “You’re in my poli-sci classes. You know how terrible an idea that is. I’ve got plans beyond being a Pro Hero… and so do you. And it seems you think me an obstacle of some sort. Am I off the mark?” The swordsman’s face was still as stone, but his silence served as his answer, Takehiko thought. “So instead of trying to get an easy win, face me fair and square. We’ll decide who’s better for this country in time. Today, we see who has the better training.”

Yagyu scowled at him before turning to walk away for another corner of the ring. Takehiko let his eyes slide off his back to take in who else had arrived… everyone. Anahita had just finished stepping up the stairs as Yagyu moved away it seemed. And Edmond was on his floating platform again. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the final round of the Chaldea Sports Festival! We’r--” he paused to let the audience get their cheers out. Once they were done, he smirked some. “We’re as excited as you are to finish out our freshmen showcase! These ten students showed that they were capable and stronger than the rest. Now, let’s see who’s strongest among them! In this free-for-all battle royale, they must knock the others out or down for a ten count. If you’d all form a circle around me. Alright, okay... Ready?” Everyone looked up at Edmond, surprised that they were starting now even if he’d said battle royale. “Begin”

Takehiko froze time, and glanced around. He was directly opposite Yagyu, but that was fine. Turning to his right, he pivoted as a leg swung up. Clay’s torso bent a little with the impact. A couple steps later, so did Hijikata’s. Okiko, and then Arjuna. He skipped the swordsman, wanting to do something special with him, and slapped Anahita with his foot next. Next came Artoria, then Medusa, then Frances. Kicks doled out, he walked back to the one who’d said he should leave. Smirking, Takehiko pivoted again, this time lashing out with a back kick into Yagyu’s abdomen.

“n!” Edmond blinked as suddenly everyone was stumbling back a step or two, while the freshman Saber was nearly launched onto his back from the time manipulator just about kicking his stomach in. “Tamashiro, that’s your one! No more stopping time in this arena!” That gave the crowd something to roar about again. He turned off his mic with a smirk. “Kid has quite the opening.”

Lowering his leg, Takehiko looked up and nodded to Edmond before turning his eyes around. The others were getting their bearings back, while Yagyu was slowly getting up. “Anyone want to help me with the only guy here that has a title given to him by our teachers?” He smirked as they all glared at him. “Oh, you can walk it off!” He turned to Yagyu, almost going to kick him in the stomach as the others all recuperated before turning to slap an arm away. His amber eyes met grey ones before he looked to see what caused his instincts to go off. Okiko could turn her fingertips into katana tips?! Well that was just crazy. He got into a bit of a scuffle with the blonde, parrying her arms with his own before he kicked her back to send her colliding into Hijikata’s back, the tallest man in the ring currently trying to get a hit in on Arjuna. He was doing pretty poorly against the slim archer, and having a soft chest press into his lower back was ample distraction for Arjuna to form a small bow of energy to strike back.

Artoria was trying to shock Anahita, but the dark-skinned girl was managing to slip around her attacks very easily. Medusa and Frances were trying to decide where to go before shrugging and splitting up. Medusa ran to help Takehiko with Yagyu while the pinkette went to help Clay with taking out the three Asians in sight.

“Stand… still!” The only girl still wearing her swimsuit scowled at the girl with purple eyes. The golden-eyed blonde was getting increasingly annoyed. The lightning she slung was normally a simple white color, not natural but close to it. But as Anahita made her way closer, there were flecks of other colors making their way down the bolts. “You’re not supposed to be a moving target!”

Anahita laughed at that, and hopped over another barrage of bolts. “You have to run out of juice at some point. Would you mind doing that soon? It’ll be easier than using my Quirk on you.” She tilted her head, giving the shorter girl a smirk. “Shouldn’t be long, with a--whoa!” Anahita ducked under a wide blast, Artoria having swiped her hand quickly. The Persian girl brought her head up to make another quip but found that not quite doable as she moved her head to avoid a kick, which still sent her rolling back as the blonde struck her shoulder. Some colorful words left her mouth as she rolled before coming up and scowling at the Englishwoman. Who seemed quite smug now. “...alright, bimbo tits, let’s go!”

Takehiko hopped back from a knifehand swing, smirking as he realized that for all his talk about being a top contender, it seemed Yagyu hadn’t trained his Quirk much. And from what little blood was slowly coming down his arm showed, the Saber was more used to applying his Sharp Edge to weapons than he was his own body. Not to mention it was awkward trying to apply Shinkage-Ryu to his hand movements without instinctively moving to grasp a hilt that wasn’t there. Which would break the line Sharp Edge needed to even start making his hand a blade. As a Kamen Rider trained in hand-to-hand combat though, Takehiko didn’t have that problem. He moved in to close the distance, wondered what Yagyu was suddenly smirking at, and heard some steps from behind him. Deciding to take a risk, he took one more step forward, and swiftly crouched and turned, one leg snapping out for a sweeping kick. He smirked himself as Yagyu found he was the recipient of a smack of hair. And there were a LOT of purple locks hitting him square in the chest. “Nice timing!”

Medusa smiled at her friend before turning to glare at Yagyu. The swordsman growled as he felt himself slow down forcibly, the most Medusa could do with her glasses on. The pair moved to keep up the offensive, Takehiko going for a mixture of kicks high and low while the purplette used her hair and eyes as tools to keep Yagyu from managing to get in a lot of good hits himself. Medusa ended up losing a few bits of hair and they both took some cuts or bruises, but they were definitely giving more than they got. Resetting after a string of hits, Takehiko brought a hand behind his back to motion his plan to Medusa. The young woman thought on it before nodding. They rushed at Yagyu again, who was getting very tired of fighting these two now. And angry. He rushed back, intent on using his fists on these idiots who thought he, the freshman Saber, would be brought low!

After a short exchange, Takehiko dropped down and swept his leg at Yagyu’s again. The swordsman jumped over it, and brought his hands up to his face, expecting another hair whip. He was not expecting the slim leg that hit his stomach and sent him up in the air. Not just that, the double side kick that impacted him was quite strong. Rolling along the arena, he tried to stop himself from going too far. However… he didn’t manage it quite well enough. So he stood up on the diagonal ground, ready to go back in, when he realized where he was. Yagyu gnashed his teeth before turning to exit the stadium entirely as the announcers called his defeat.

Takehiko and Medusa turned, their feet back on the floor, and gave each other high-fives. The indigo-eyed young woman was quite happy that went so well, not to mention that he was the first one out! She laughed some before looking over to the rest of the fights. “...Artoria or Frances and Clay?” He hummed at the question, and deferred to her. Taking in how they were doing, she decided to go for Artoria’s opponent first. As they closed in, they managed to hear the smack talk going on. “Wow, how long have they been trading insults?”

“No clue. But I think we can step in at any time, eh?” Medusa nodded, and waited for Artoria to not be zapping out before moving to reduce Anahita’s movements. From there, Takehiko zipped in quicker than the blonde could recover from her opponent suddenly being slowed down dramatically. Time Manipulation was still an amazing Quirk to watch in action, they thought, before Artoria moved in for some close up zapping with her white lightning. The young man kicked Anahita up into the air, breaking her from Medusa’s reduced Quirk and into the path of Artoria’s. The dark-skinned girl let out a light shriek as her tracksuit burned a little with the intense hit. She wouldn’t be burned herself though, Artoria hadn’t put enough oomph into the zap for that. “Well, that was a good workout. Let’s go help ou--whoa!”

Time slowing down around him was the biggest reason he managed to dodge the lightning sent his way. He recognized the feel of Medusa’s Quirk on him as well as time resumed normal speed. “Oh, so that’s how it is?”

The short blonde shrugged. “It is a free-for-all. And I want to win.” Medusa agreed, and it seemed rather than a friendly all-out spar, they would handle him while Clay was struggling to keep from being thrown out of the ring by Hijikata, Frances watching with her arms turned into cannons. The boom made as the pinkette shot at the tallest student in the ring made the other three pause before watching as Clay tried to use his chains to keep himself in, but the angry theater major had too strong a grip on him. They fell out while Frances whooped in delight, her cannons returning to arms before she wobbled a little. And that was all he got to see before Takehiko needed to jump out of the way of more lightning. “No no, keep looking her way. It’ll make things easier for us.”

He smirked some at the joke before rushing towards Artoria. Medusa let him, curious how she could turn the quick exchange of blows to her advantage. The unmasked Rider spun on his hands as he tried to kick his blonde lover a few times quickly before slipping to the ground. He grunted as she took the opportunity to sit on his stomach, grinning as she went to grasp his arms to keep him pinned. And Artoria did grab one, but the other managed to slip under her swimsuit. While that confused her for a second, she squeaked as he began to tickle her side. Stifling her laughter as best she could, she started trying to pry his hand off her skin but found that keeping one arm down while trying to remove the other from inside a skintight outfit wasn’t the easiest.

The blonde let out a yelp as Takehiko managed to get himself sitting up, jostling her and making it easier for him to tickle her. While he had her as a laughing mess, he made sure to quickly stand up and made his way ungracefully to a side. “Sorry.” He dumped Artoria as kindly as he could, the blonde giggling still as she rolled off the stage and out of the fight. Takehiko nodded before turning. “Now whe--huogh!”

The dropkick a purple-haired missile had placed on his side sent Takehiko out of the fight next. Unfortunately, she had forgotten how momentum worked so instead of bouncing off his side and landing back in the ring, Medusa went flying out with him. The purplette managed to correct herself in midair, but she was still outside the arena while her friend went rolling with some pain down the slope. “...ladies and gentlemen, your winner of the Chaldea Sports Festival Freshman Finals: FRANCEEEEES DRRRRRAAAAAAAKKKKE!”

The pink-haired pirate was looking wide-eyed at where her supposed to be last opponents had been eliminated and self-rung out. As the cheers reached her ears though, the blue-eyed woman turned and waved to the audience. A wide grin split her face and she laughed at the people reacting so wildly. “Yeah, I doubt I’ll get used to this.”


End file.
